Home/HEALTH/Latest/Betacoronaviruses have now caused three major outbreaks in recent memory. Drugs like Ensitrelvir provide scientists with a valuable starting point against this entire sub-family of viruses, possibly allowing humankind to respond more quickly when the next virus will inevitably emerge
Long-awaited anti-COVID drug is also a milestone against future viruses
Updated - May 25, 2026 09:25 am IST
R
By Rohan KumarPublished: May 26, 2026, 01:34 PM • 1 min read
The recent success of Ensitrelvir at preventing COVID-19 is a milestone in a drug quest that began with a singular development at the start of the pandemic.
In January 2020, the full-length genome sequence of a strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was posted on an online discussion forum for virologists. The sequence revealed that SARS-CoV-2, like its relative SARS-CoV-1, keeps most of its proteins as one long chain. The individual proteins are then cut from this chain and released by enzymes called proteases.
Comments0
Leave a Reply
Loading comments...