Novel Inhalation Formulations of Repurposed Drugs for Potential Treatment of COVID-19

Abstract

The spread of COVID-19 has resulted in massive numbers of infections and deaths. Despite the current containment attempts, the complete prevention of COVID-19 infection is not certain even with the use of vaccines. Hence, the need for pharmacological therapies still exists to treat the disease. Many drugs have been repurposed and tested as a potential COVID-19 treatment. However, the findings of the clinical studies have not supported the benefits of some of these drugs after they showed inconclusive or even adverse outcomes. In this work, inhalation formulations of repurposed drugs were developed. Hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin have been repurposed after they showed antiviral activity against COVID-19 in-vitro. However, the pharmaceutical and pharmacokinetic issues associated with their systemic administration have limited their bioavailability. Therefore, they were formulated as inhalable dry powders so that the formulations will be in place as a potential COVID-19 treatment for future clinical trials.