@article {Terrier2020.04.30.069922, author = {Olivier Terrier and S{\'e}bastien Dilly and Andr{\'e}s Pizzorno and Julien Henri and Francis Berenbaum and Bruno Lina and Bruno F{\`e}ve and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Adnet and Mich{\`e}le Sabbah and Manuel Rosa-Calatrava and Vincent Mar{\'e}chal and Anny Slama Schwok}, title = {Broad-spectrum antiviral activity of naproxen: from Influenza A to SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus}, elocation-id = {2020.04.30.069922}, year = {2020}, doi = {10.1101/2020.04.30.069922}, publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory}, abstract = {There is an urgent need for specific antiviral drugs directed against SARS-CoV-2 both to prevent the most severe forms of COVID-19 and to reduce viral excretion and subsequent virus dissemination; in the present pandemic context, drug repurposing is a priority. Targeting the nucleoprotein N of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in order to inhibit its association with viral RNA could be a strategy to impeding viral replication and possibly other essential functions associated with viral N. The antiviral properties of naproxen, belonging to the NSAID family, previously demonstrated against Influenza A virus, were evaluated against SARS-CoV-2. Naproxen binding to the nucleoprotein of SARS-CoV2 was shown by molecular modeling. In VeroE6 cells and reconstituted human primary respiratory epithelium models of SARS-CoV-2 infection, naproxen inhibited viral replication and protected the bronchial epithelia against SARS-CoV-2 induced-damage. The benefit of naproxen addition to the standard of care is tested in an on-going clinical study.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.}, URL = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/01/2020.04.30.069922}, eprint = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/05/01/2020.04.30.069922.full.pdf}, journal = {bioRxiv} }