ADVANCING ANTIVIRAL DRUG DISCOVERY: INSIGHTS GAINED FROM COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic spurred unprecedented rapid and collaborative efforts in drug discovery across academia and industry, leading to the development, approval, and deployment of several therapeutics within just two years. This article highlights the collective experiences of pharmaceutical companies and academic collaborations actively engaged in SARS-CoV-2 antiviral research. Key stages of the small-molecule drug discovery process are discussed, including target selection, medicinal chemistry, antiviral assays, animal efficacy studies, and strategies to anticipate resistance. We emphasize the critical need for high-quality chemical probes targeting understudied viral proteins, which could serve as foundational tools for future drug discovery efforts. Given the relatively small size of viral proteomes, systematically developing a comprehensive set of chemical probes for proteins in viruses with pandemic potential represents a feasible and valuable challenge for the scientific community.