Individuating Possibly Repurposable Drugs and Drug Targets for COVID-19 Treatment through Hypothesis-Driven Systems Medicine Using CoVex

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has developed into a pandemic causing major disruptions and hundreds of thousands of deaths in wide parts of the world. As of July 3, 2020, neither vaccines nor approved drugs for effective treatment are available. In this article, we showcase how to individuate drug targets and potentially repurposable drugs in silico using CoVex a recently presented systems medicine platform for COVID-19 drug repurposing. Starting from initial hypotheses, CoVex leverages network algorithms to individuate host proteins involved in COVID-19 disease mechanisms, as well as existing drugs targeting these potential drug targets. Our analysis reveals GLA, PLAT, and GGCX as potential drug targets, and urokinase, argatroban, dabigatran etexilate, betrixaban, ximelagatran and anisindione as potentially repurposable drugs.