Odia researcher part of group trying to find Covid-19 drug
Aditya Kumar Padhi
BHUBANESWAR: Three researchers, including an Odia youth Aditya Kumar Padhi, have conducted study on an existing drug ‘Umifenovir’ to know whether it can be used for treatment of Covid-19 infected patients with mild or moderate symptoms.
Padhi, 32, is a postdoctoral research fellow at Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, RIKEN, Japan. Other two authors of the study were Aniruddha Seal, an integrated MSc student from NISER Bhubaneswar and Timir Tripathi, an assistant professor in North Eastern Hill University, Shillong.
According to lead author Padhi, Covid-19 has wreaked havoc across the world due to the unavailability of any successful therapeutics. In the absence of any clinically proven therapy, several existing anti-viral drugs are being used for Covid-19 treatment. One such potential drug recommended by China’s prevention and treatment guidelines is the anti-influenza drug, Umifenovir (brand name Arbidol).
Padhi, a native of Rayagada and son of a retired government servant, said that the novel coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, uses its Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of the viral spike-protein to bind the ACE2 receptor (which allow the virus to enter cells) in human cells to enter and spread the infection. “Therefore, inhibiting this RBD/ACE2 interaction is crucial for the development of effective treatment,” said the researcher, who has completed his BTech in biotechnology from Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Rourkela, in 2009 and PhD in biological sciences from IIT Delhi in 2016.
When the research team learned that Umifenovir interferes with virus binding to human cells, they were curious to understand the molecular mechanisms through which this drug prevents the coronavirus-induced infection.
To find out the answer, the team used supercomputers to carry out protein interfaced docking, structural dynamics and structure-based network analysis like research techniques. Padhi, who carried out the experiment, said Umifenovir binds at the RBD/ACE2 interface, forms stronger interactions with the viral spike protein and causes protein structural changes, thereby preventing the deadly virus to enter the human cell at a very early stage.
Tripathi expected that their finding on the important residues of the viral spike protein might help in opening the doors for the development of higher-efficiency Umifenovir like drugs. He said India’s Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) has secured approval for carrying out phase-III trial for the use of Umifenovir to treat Covid-19 patients. The institute will see how the drug behaves in the Indian Covid-19 patients.
Interestingly, the group executed their research remotely during the lockdown. The research has been published in ChemRxiv, an open-source preprint archive for chemistry and is currently undergoing peer-review in a reputed journal, said Seal.
The team said their findings should be used only for research purposes. No individual should take these findings as final. People should not indulge in self-medication without the prior approval from competent health or medical regulatory agencies, said the researchers.