The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is described as a wide range of symptoms including fever, dry cough, headache, decreased sense of taste and smell. Molnupiravir (MLN) is developed for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), have also shown antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. In a study, 54 MLN analogs (twelve of them are found to be reported in the literature whereas 42 of them are novel molecules) against SARS-CoV-2 RdRp were designed and evaluated for their possible antiviral activity by employing molecular modelling studies. 

Compound C17 was found to be the best potential inhibitor among all analogs with-7.3 kcal/mol binding energy that is higher than molnupiravir and its active form EIDD-1931. Thus, the isobutyric acid ester and monophosphate forms of C17 were further compared to the related MLN derivatives to check active site interactions. Lastly, 10 compounds with the best binding affinity including C17 were tested in silico for bioavailability, drug-likeness, ADME and safety profiles, which demonstrated similar bioavailability and safety profile to MLN. 

Source- Journal of research in pharmacy, 2021;25(6):967-981.