Image courtesy of Pxfuel.
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have developed CoVex, an interactive online platform dedicated to compiling information on SARS-CoV-2 with the purpose of drug repurposing. To complement the development of new drugs, CoVex enables researchers to explore the interactions of the virus within the host cell and prioritize existing drugs and “therapeutics.” The strength of the platform is its visual presentation of virus-human protein interactions, human protein-protein interactions, and drug-target interactions. From published data on SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, CoVex collates all these interactions, and allows researchers to generate a network of interacting drugs and proteins, upon which algorithms can be applied to identify drug candidates for repurposing. These candidates can then become starting points for tests and trials before becoming available to the masses. Try it out here: https://exbio.wzw.tum.de/covex/.