SARS-CoV 2 emergence and spreading need to found urgently therapeutics.
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Drug repurposing is the best strategy for quick therapeutic response.
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Azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine shows synergistic effect on replication.
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Concentrations of drugs are more compatible with in vivo concentrations.
Abstract
Human coronaviruses SARS-CoV-2 appeared at the end of 2019 and led to a pandemic with high morbidity and mortality. As there are currently no effective drugs targeting this virus, drug repurposing represents a short-term strategy to treat millions of infected patients at low costs. Hydroxychloroquine showed an antiviral effect in vitro. In vivo it showed efficacy, especially when combined with azithromycin in a preliminary clinical trial. Here we demonstrate that the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin has a synergistic effect in vitro on SARS-CoV-2 at concentrations compatible with that obtained in human lung.