China guidelines point to HIV protease inhibitors as potential coronavirus treatment

Ascletis is seeking the approval of China’s NMPA for emergency use of its protease inhibitors to treat 2019-nCoV coronavirus after the government released guidelines suggesting AbbVie’s Kaletra as a treatment for the virus.

In a Wednesday regulatory filing, Ascletis Pharma Inc. (HKEX:1672) said it believes protease inhibitors have potential to treat the novel coronavirus, which was first identified in Wuhan. The company cited structural similarities between the HIV and 2019-nCoV proteases. It also said that clinical testing has demonstrated the efficacy of Kaletra, a combination of ritonavir with lopinavir -- two HIV protease inhibitors -- to treat another coronavirus: SARS. ...