Related Articles The broad spectrum host directed agent ivermectin as an antiviral for SARS CoV 2 Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2020 Oct 21 Authors Jans DA Wagstaff KM Abstract FDA approved for parasitic indications the small molecule ivermectin has been the focus of growing attention in the last 8 years due to its potential as an antiviral We first identified ivermectin in a high throughput compound library screen as an agent potently able to inhibit recognition of the nuclear localizing Human Immunodeficiency Virus 1 HIV 1 integrase protein by the host importin IMP 1 heterodimer and recently demonstrated its ability to bind directly to IMP to cause conformational changes that prevent its function in nuclear import of key viral as well as host proteins Cell culture experiments have shown robust antiviral action towards a whole range of viruses including HIV 1 dengue Zika and West Nile Virus Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus Chikungunya pseudorabies virus adenovirus and SARS CoV 2 COVID 19 Close to 70 clinical trials are currently in progress worldwide for SARS CoV 2 Although few of these studies have been completed the results that are available as well as those from observational retrospective studies indicate clinical benefit Here we discuss the case for ivermectin as a host directed broad spectrum antiviral agent including for SARS CoV 2 PMID 33341233 PubMed as supplied by publisher