How a New Class of Cancer Drug Could Stop Future Coronaviruses

A new class of compounds currently in development against acute myeloid leukemia has been discovered to block coronavirus reproduction in human lung cells.

In order to reproduce in the body, viruses must hijack some of the natural genetic mechanisms to assist. Coronaviruses encode a complete set of genetic instructions in RNA chains. This led researchers to question whether modifying enzymes would be able to alter the production of viral proteins that enable virus multiplication.