Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41076627›Full record

ArticleJournal of medicinal chemistry2025

Discovery of Highly Potent Noncovalent Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease through Computer-Aided Drug Design.

Atsutoshi Okabe, Daniel W Carney, Michiko Tawada, Thamina Akther, Jumpei Aida, Terufumi Takagi, Douglas R Dougan, Abba E Leffler, Jeffrey A Bell, Leah Frye and 8 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of medicinal chemistry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Coumarin derivatives as HIV-1 inhibitors: mechanistic insights and structure-activity relationships.Medicinal chemistry research : an international journal for rapid communications on design and mechanisms of action of biologically active agents · 2026
    Review
  3. Drugs against broad-spectrum of coronaviruses.Frontiers in immunology · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Atsutoshi OkabeTakeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1 Muraoka-Higashi 2-chrome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan.ORCID 0009-0003-2341-226X
Daniel W CarneyTakeda Development Center Americas, Inc., 9625 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, California 92121, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-2741-8899
Michiko TawadaTakeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1 Muraoka-Higashi 2-chrome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan.ORCID 0000-0002-1349-0059
Thamina AktherTakeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1 Muraoka-Higashi 2-chrome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan.
Jumpei AidaTakeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1 Muraoka-Higashi 2-chrome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan.ORCID 0000-0002-7546-1915
Terufumi TakagiTakeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1 Muraoka-Higashi 2-chrome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan.
Douglas R DouganTakeda Development Center Americas, Inc., 9625 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
Abba E LefflerSchrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, United States.ORCID 0009-0004-5444-013X
Jeffrey A BellSchrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-8310-0183
Leah FryeSchrödinger, Inc., 101 SW Main Street, Suite 1300, Portland, Oregon 97204, United States.ORCID 0009-0001-7442-9745
Eugene R HickeySchrödinger, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-4868-630X
Mallareddy KomandlaTakeda Development Center Americas, Inc., 9625 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
Will TaoTakeda Development Center Americas, Inc., 9625 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
Jangir SelimkhanovTakeda Development Center Americas, Inc., 9625 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
Kazuko YonemoriTakeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1 Muraoka-Higashi 2-chrome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan.
Edcon ChangTakeda Development Center Americas, Inc., 9625 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
Kumar SaikatenduTakeda Development Center Americas, Inc., 9625 Towne Centre Drive, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
Atsuko OchidaTakeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, 26-1 Muraoka-Higashi 2-chrome, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 251-8555, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a clear need to ensure rapid and equitable global access to health interventions in preparation for future coronavirus-driven pandemics. Here, we report the discovery of highly potent noncovalent inhibitors of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease (Mpro) with pan-coronavirus (pan-CoV) Mpro inhibition through computer-aided drug design. Virtual screening led to the identification of a noncovalent hit compound with a piperazine core. Structure-guided scaffold morphing provided a novel trisubstituted piperidine core. Free energy perturbation (FEP)-guided designs, with induced-fit of Met49/Met165 and Gln189, resulted in the identification of highly potent compound

Indexed as

Antiviral AgentsComputer-Aided DesignCoronavirus 3C ProteasesDrug DesignProtease InhibitorsSARS-CoV-2AnimalsCOVID-19COVID-19 Drug TreatmentDrug DiscoveryHumansMiceMolecular Docking SimulationStructure-Activity RelationshipAntiviral AgentsCoronavirus 3C ProteasesProtease Inhibitors

Identifiers

PMID41076627
PMCPMC12557384

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.