Development and progress of clinical trials of Coronavirus Disease 2019 antiviral drugs.

INTRODUCTION: We have summarized and analyzed the clinical trial registration status and the latest research progress of eight major antiviral drugs during the epidemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which can provide reference methods for clinical formulation of the best antiviral treatment. AREAS COVERED: We used the generic names of 8 antiviral drugs as keywords to search and analyze the COVID-19-related clinical trials registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry and ClinicalTrials.gov. Then, we used the keywords to obtain and summarize their clinical research results related to COVID-19 in CNKI, WANFANG, CQVIP, and PubMed database. EXPERT OPINION: The registration system of clinical trials and the level of clinical trial design need to be further improved. At present, no specific drug has been found for the treatment of COVID-19, the efficacy of antiviral drugs mostly comes from small sample studies or retrospective studies, and the level of clinical evidence is low. Besides, multi-drug combination therapy may become a more effective treatment choice, but the drug interactions and adverse drug reactions also need to be closely monitored. In summary, the safety and efficacy of various antiviral drugs need to be confirmed by large samples and high-quality RCT studies.