Challenges in Repurposing Drugs in COVID-19 Pandemic. Debating on Potential New Refinements

Front Pharmacol. 2020 Oct 28:11:559996. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.559996. eCollection 2020.

Giorgio Frega^{1

2}, Andrea Palloni^{1

2}, Giuseppe Di Pasquale³, Gioconda Saccoccio⁴, Alessandro Rizzo^{1

2}, Elisabetta Poluzzi⁵, Primiano Iannone⁶, Giovanni Brandi^{1

2}

¹ Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Sant'Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
² Oncologia Medica, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Via Albertoni, Bologna, Italy.
³ Division of Cardiology, Maggiore Hospital, Bologna, Italy.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale (AUSL) Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
⁵ Pharmacology Unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
⁶ National Center for Clinical Excellence Healthcare Quality & Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.

No abstract available

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; antivirals drugs; clinical trial; hydroxychloroquine.