Research by NRI scientist at KSU unraveled potential anti-COVID drug

A recent article “Masitinib analogs with the N-methyl piperazine group replaced – a new hope for the development of anti-COVID-19 drugs” published in the Journal of King Saud University – Science from a collaborative study between scientists in India, Saudi Arabia and South Korea aimed at discovering potential drugs to SARS-CoV-2 infection has led to new findings that could pave way for clinical trials to cure the Coronavirus disease. The article has been co-authored by Dr. Arun Bahadur Gurung (North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, India), Professor Joongku Lee (Chungnam National University, Daejeon, South Korea), Dr. Hiba Sami (Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India) and three others, Dr. Mohammad Ajmal Ali, Dr. Reem M. Aljowaie, Dr. Saeedah M. Almutairi (King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia).

The research has used a computational approach to embark on a scientific experimentation of drug development for the disease. Masitinib is an orally acceptable tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is currently investigated under clinical trials against cancer, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The research has used a computational approach to embark on a scientific experimentation of drug development for the disease. Masitinib is an orally acceptable tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is currently investigated under clinical trials against cancer, asthma, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A recent study confirmed the anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) activity of masitinib through inhibition of the main protease (Mpro) enzyme, an important pharmacological drug target to block the replication of the coronavirus. However, due to the adverse effects and lower potency of the drug, there are opportunities to design better analogues of masitinib. Masitinib analogues with the N-methylpiperazine group replaced is a promising drug candidate against coronavirus, suggest the findings. Dr. Mohammad Ajmal Ali, originally from Pakur in the Indian state of Jharkhand, spoke with Times of NRIs mentioned that the finding is novel and exciting as the lead molecules also demonstrated broad-spectrum antiviral activities against coronavirus. Dr. Ali, an alumnus of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bihar, is currently Associate Professor at Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University and associated in the Genetics and Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory at its College of Science in the Department of Botany and Microbiology. Dr. Ali’s research program encompasses next generation sequencing, computational chemistry, bioprospecting and bionanotechnology, and has authored/co-authored eight books and over 210 research articles in more than 52 journals of international repute. Having more than a decade of experience in academics and research in cyto-genetics, computational chemistry, he also worked at Korea Research Institute of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Daejeon, South Korea. He opines that “the discovery of novel drug molecules is crucial as still there are no approved antiviral drugs for the treatment of human CoV infection, therefore the scientists in this study were compelled to use computational methods to address the problem and build on effective therapeutics of CoV infection.

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