Defending Antiviral Cationic Amphiphilic Drugs That May Cause Drug-Induced Phospholipidosis

A recent publication in Science has proposed that cationic amphiphilic drugs repurposed for COVID-19 typically use phosholipidosis as their antiviral mechanism of action in cells but will have no in vivo efficacy. On the contrary, our viewpoint, supported by additional experimental data for similar cationic amphiphilic drugs, indicates that many of these molecules have both in vitro and in vivo efficacy with no reported phospholipidosis, and therefore, this class of compounds should not be avoided but further explored, as we continue the search for broad spectrum antivirals.

Automated summary

While a recent publication suggested that cationic amphiphilic drugs repurposed for COVID-19 may not be effective in vivo, additional experimental data supports the efficacy of many of these molecules both in vitro and in vivo without causing phospholipidosis. Therefore, further exploration of this class of compounds is warranted in the search for broad spectrum antivirals.