New Drug May Prevent the Evolution of COVID Variants

Until the incredibly infectious Omicron variant emerged and took over, it seemed like there was a never-ending stream of new SARS-CoV-2 variants. New variants may also continue to emerge. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is known to infect human cells by attaching to ACE2 receptors on cell surfaces, and then dumping the viral genome into the host cell. One type of drug that is now in clinical trials has already been shown to block the connection between ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2. This class of drug might also inhibit the formation of new variants…