The antimalarial drug amodiaquine possesses anti-ZIKA virus activities

Abstract

Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak has emerged as a global health threat, particularly in tropical areas, over the past few years. No antiviral therapy or vaccine is available at present. For these reasons, repurposing clinically approved drugs against ZIKV infection may provide rapid and cost-effective global health benefits. Here, we explored this strategy and screened eight FDA-approved drugs for antiviral activity against ZIKV using a cell-based assay. Our results show that the antimalarial drug amodiaquine has anti-ZIKV activity with EC50 at low micromolar concentrations in cell culture. We further characterized amodiaquine antiviral activity against ZIKV and found that it targets early events of the viral replication cycle. Altogether, our results suggest that amodiaquine may be efficacious for the treatment of ZIKV infection.