Table 2.

Brief description of COVID-19 therapeutic options recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines [117,118,119,120].

Drug Name	Pharmacological Class	Clinical Phase	EC50 (half maximal effective concentration)	Dose	Mechanism of Action	Adverse Effects
Remdesivir—(RDV)	nucleoside analogue	Severe	0.77 µM	200 mg—day 1; 100 mg/day—9 days	inhibitor of the CoVs RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp)	incompletely characterized toxicological profile: phlebitis, constipation, headache, ecchymosis, nausea, pain in the extremities elevation of hepatic enzymes values
Chloroquine (CQ)	4-aminoquinoline	Mild-to-moderate and severe—depending on the guideline applied	23.90 µM (24 h) 5.47 µM (48 h)	CQ base (600 mg/diagnosis; 300 mg—12 h later and 300 mg up to 5 days) or CQ phosphate (1000 mg/diagnosis; 500 mg—12 h later and 300 mg up to 5 days)	weak base able to elevate the pH of acidic intracellular organelles, such as endosomes and lysosomes	retinopathy hypotension ECG changes irreversible cardiomyopathy—long-term users direct myocardial toxicity exacerbate the existent myocardial dysfunction QT prolongation risk of Torsade de Pointes (TdP) even at therapeutic doses interaction with antiarrhythmics * in the case of HCQ, the adverse effects have a lower intensity, but are not absent
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ)	4-aminoquinoline	Mild-to-moderate and severe—depending on the guideline applied	6.14 µM (24 h) 0.72 µM (48 h)	HCQ—400 mg at suspicion/diagnosis; 400 mg—12 h later and 200 mg—until day 5	weak bases able to elevate the pH of acidic intracellular organelles, such as endosomes and lysosomes
Liponavir/ritonavir (LPv/r)	Protease inhibitor	Mild-to-moderate	-	400 mg/100 mg/day—14 days	peptidomimetic inhibitor of HIV protease enzyme	hypercholesterolemia and increased serum triglycerides increased gamma-glutamyl transferase increased serum ALT upper respiratory tract infection diarrhea nausea headache skin rush neutropenia anxiety QT prolongation