Darunavir
Darunavir is a protease enzyme inhibitor with activity against HIV-1. It
prevents HIV replication through binding to the enzyme, stopping the
dimerization and the catalytic activity of HIV-1 protease. SARS-CoV-2
being an RNA virus also uses protease enzyme which the drug inhibits,
hence the drug is one of the antiviral candidates in clinical trial for
the treatment of COVID-19.
Darunavir has bimodal activity against HIV-1 protease, enzymatic
inhibition and protease dimerization inhibition. It has a high genetic
barrier to the development of HIV-1 drug resistance (Aoki et al., 2018).
Adverse effects include blurred vision, sweating, increased urination,
difficulty in breathing, jaundice, myalgia, facial puffiness,
tachycardia, sore throat and vomiting (Antinori et al., 2019; Delicio et
al., 2018).