IBM’s supercomputer ‘Summit’ has identified 77 existing drugs that could tackle coronavirus
- IBM supercomputer identified 77 drugs that could help tackle the coronavirus
- It focused on the method virus uses to bind to cells to identify the compounds
- Further testing is required to determine whether they can be used as treatment
- Currently no vaccine or cure for COVID-19, which has killed 16,595 globally
- Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?
A supercomputer has identified 77 drugs that could provide a framework to help researchers find a cure for coronavirus.
A huge IBM supercomputer known as ‘Summit’ was tasked by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers with finding a potential cure to COVID-19.
The study focused on the method the virus uses to bind to cells and searched for compounds that could prevent it from doing so.
A supercomputer has identified 77 drugs that could halt the spread of coronavirus by focusing on the method it uses to bind to cells
A huge IBM supercomputer known as ‘Summit’ was tasked by Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers with finding a potential cure to COVID-19
Researchers in the United States say they now have a list of drugs that could work to bind to the virus and prevent it from injecting cells.
The study concluded: ‘We hypothesize the identified small-molecules may be repurposed to limit viral recognition of host cells and/or disrupt host-virus interactions.’
Further experimental testing on the identified list of compounds is now required to determine whether any of them can be used to create a treatment for the virus.
There is currently no vaccine or cure for COVID-19, which has killed 16,595 people and infected 383,944 globally.
Co-author of the research Jeremy Smith said the supercomputer allowed the team to sift through a huge collection of data in a short period of time.
‘Summit was needed to rapidly get the simulation results we needed. It took us a day or two whereas it would have taken months on a normal computer,’ Smith said.
‘Our results don’t mean that we have found a cure or treatment for the coronavirus,’ he added.
It comes after a promising but limited study in France showed that the anti-arthritis drug Plaquenil could be used to treat coronavirus
‘We are very hopeful, though, that our computational findings will both inform future studies and provide a framework that experimentalists will use to further investigate these compounds.
‘Only then will we know whether any of them exhibit the characteristics needed to mitigate this virus.’
It comes after a study in France showed that the antimalarial drug Plaquenil had promising effects on coronavirus patients.
Twenty four COVID-19 patients were administered Plaquenil, and the virus disappeared in 75% of the cases six days after starting the treatment.