Preclinical evaluation of Imatinib does not support its use as an antiviral drug against SARS-CoV-2

Following the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the search for an effective and rapidly available treatment was initiated worldwide based on repurposing of available drugs. Previous reports described the antiviral activity of certain tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) targeting the Abelson kinase 2 against pathogenic coronaviruses. Imatinib, one of them, has more than twenty years of safe utilization for the treatment of hematological malignancies. In this context, Imatinib was rapidly evaluated in clinical trials against Covid-19. Here, we present the pre-clinical evaluation of imatinib in multiple models. Our results indicated that imatinib and another TKI, the masitinib, exhibit an antiviral activity in VeroE6 cells. However, imatinib was inactive in a reconstructed bronchial human airway epithelium model. In vivo, imatinib therapy failed to impair SARS-CoV-2 replication in a golden Syrian hamster model despite high concentrations in plasma and in the lung. Overall, these results do not support the use of imatinib and similar TKIs as antivirals in the treatment of Covid-19

First maxim maximes premieres

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Que se passe-t-il ?

Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé ? Quid evenit ? « Soyez émus de ces grandioses quoique délicats, de ces extraordinairement dramatiques quoiqu’ordinairement inaperçus événements sensationnels, et changements à vue », écrit Fancis Ponge dans La Robe des choses (Pièces). Les textes réunis dans ce volume questionnent la notion d’événement dans le champ littéraire et le champ des sciences humaines. Historiens, médiologues, journalistes, philosophes, linguistes et stylisticiens, littéraires proposent des études sur des objets événements qui nécessitent une conception et des méthodes référant à des critiques propres à plusieurs disciplines