Ecology

Cytokine storm

Clinical trial

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Repurposing

Disease

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Biology

Internal medicine

Pharmacology

Immunology

Medicine

Multiple myeloma

Thalidomide

Drug repositioning

Drug

Medicinal Research Reviews

The time and cost of developing new drugs have led many groups to limit their search for therapeutics to compounds that have previously been approved for human use. Many “repurposed” drugs, such as derivatives of thalidomide, antibiotics, and antivirals have had clinical success in treatment areas well beyond their original approved use. These include applications in treating antibiotic‐resistant organisms, viruses, cancers and to prevent burn scarring. The major theoretical justification for reusing approved drugs is that they have known modes of action and controllable side effects. Coadministering antibiotics with inhibitors of bacterial toxins or enzymes that mediate multidrug resistance can greatly enhance their activity. Drugs that control host cell pathways, including inflammation, tumor necrosis factor, interferons, and autophagy, can reduce the “cytokine storm” response to injury, control infection, and aid in cancer therapy. An active compound, even if previously approved for human use, will be a po...

Repurposing approved drugs on the pathway to novel therapies