Antiviral Drug Discovery To Address the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The magnitude of the morbidity and mortality inflicted upon the global population in less than 1 year has driven the inescapable conclusion that the discovery and development of effective antiviral drugs for COVID-19 are urgent and should be prioritized. The antiviral drug discovery programs that emerged for HIV and hepatitis C virus have enabled technology and expertise to accelerate this process for SARS-CoV-2. The description of candidate lead inhibitors for the viral main protease (Mpro) exemplifies this accelerated approach and reminds us of the needs and opportunities for addressing this pandemic.