Rifampicin for COVID-19

Table 2 In silico studies indicating rifampicin’s possible effectiveness against coronavirus disease-2019

Ref.	Year	Findings
Mishra et al[39]	2020	Using a computer-aided drug designing approach, rifampicin was the most promising existing drug that could be repurposed for the treatment of COVID-19
Parvez et al[40]	2020	Using a comprehensive drug repurposing and molecular docking approach, prediction of potential inhibitors for RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARS-CoV-2 revealed that rifabutin could be an effective drug for COVID-19, having the lowest binding energy compared to the positive control remdesivir
Forrest et al[41]	2010	Rifabutin belongs to the rifamycins (rifampicin, rifapentine and rifabutin); rifampicin is the most used
Pokhrel et al[42]	2020	In silico virtual screen within the United States Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs targeting the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which is the critical enzyme for coronavirus replication, placed rifampicin among the five most potent potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics
Pathak et al[43]	2021	A similar approach, by targeting the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 but also TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, revealed rifampicin as one of the most promising drugs
Elkarhat et al[44]	2020	The SARS-CoV-2 RNA dependent RNA polymerase (nsp12) catalyzes the replication of RNA from RNA templates. Changes in the virus life cycle are exhibited by the fixation of specific ligands in the active site of this crucial enzyme. A recent study found the highly conserved nsp12 motifs, and discovered the interactions with rifabutin and rifampicin, concluding that both could function as inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 nsp12 protein
Soni et al[45]	2020	An in silico docking approach also found that rifampicin has good binding affinity with the COVID-19 protease, proposing its use as therapeutic treatment as well as prophylaxis

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease-2019; SARS-CoV-2: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.