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Since the first case reports in Wuhan, China, the SARS-CoV-2 has caused a pandemic and took lives of > 8,35,000 people globally. This single-stranded RNA virus uses Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a receptor for entry into the host cell. Overexpression of ACE2 is mainly observed in hypertensive, diabetic and heart patients that make them prone to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Mitigations strategies were opted globally by the governments to minimize transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via the implementation of social distancing norms, wearing the facemasks, and spreading awareness using digital platforms. The lack of an approved drug treatment regimen, and non-availability of a vaccine, collectively posed a challenge for mankind to fight against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In this scenario, repurposing of existing drugs and old treatment options like convalescent plasma therapy can be one of the potential alternatives to treat the disease. The drug repurposing provides a selection of drugs based on the scientific rationale and with a shorter cycle of clinical trials, while plasma isolated from COVID-19 recovered patients can be a good source of neutralizing antibody to provide passive immunity. In this review, we provide in-depth analysis on these two approaches currently opted all around the world to treat COVID-19 patients. For this, we used “Boolean Operators” such as AND, OR & NOT to search relevant research articles/reviews from the PUBMED for the repurposed drugs and the convalescent plasma in the COVID-19 treatment. The repurposed drugs like Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine, Tenofovir, Remdesivir, Ribavirin, Darunavir, Oseltamivir, Arbidol (Umifenovir), Favipiravir, Anakinra, and Baricitinib are already being used in clinical trials to treat the COVID-19 patients. These drugs have been approved for a different indication and belong to a diverse category such as anti-malarial/anti-parasitic, anti-retroviral/anti-viral, anti-cancer, or against rheumatoid arthritis. Although, the vaccine would be an ideal option for providing active immunity against the SARS-CoV-2, but considering the current situation, drug repurposing and convalescent plasma therapy and repurposed drugs are the most viable option against SARS-CoV-2. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s11010-020-03924-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Since the first case reports in Wuhan, China, SARS-CoV-2 virus took lives of >6,85,000 people all around the world. This single stranded RNA virus used Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a receptor for entry into the host cell. Overexpression of ACE2 is observed in hypertensive, diabetic and heart patients that make them prone to COVID-19 infection. All around the world, mitigations strategies were opted by the governments to minimize transmission of COVID-19 via the implementation of social distancing norms, wearing the facemasks, and spreading awareness using digital platforms. The lack of an approved drug treatment regimen, and non-availability of a vaccine, collectively posed a challenge for mankind to fight against SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. In this scenario, repurposing of existing drugs and old treatment options like convalescent plasma therapy can be the potential alternatives to treat the disease. The Drug repurposing provides a selection of drugs based on the scientific rationale and with a shorter cycle of clinical trials, the plasma therapy can be a good source of neutralizing antibody to provide passive immunity from COVID-19 recovered patients, In this review, we provide in-depth analysis on these two approaches currently opted all around the world to treat COVID-19 patients. For this we used “Boolean Operators” such as AND, OR & NOT to search relevant research articles/reviews from the PUBMED for the repurposed drugs and the convalescent plasma in COVID-19 treatment. The repurposed drugs like repurposed drugs like Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, Tenofovir, Remdesivir, Ribavirin, Darunavir, Oseltamivir, Arbidol (Umifenovir), Favipiravir, Anakinra, and Baricitinib are already being used or I trials to treat the COVID-19, and those belong to a diverse category such as anti-malarial/anti-parasitic, antiretroviral/anti-viral, anti-cancer or against rheumatoid arthritis. Although, the vaccine would be an ideal option for providing active immunity against the SARS-CoV-2, but considering current situation, the neutralizing antibody through plasma therapy and repurposed drugs are the most viable option against SARS-CoV-2.