The continued emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) cases with a high case fatality rate stresses the need for the availability of effective antiviral treatments. Remdesivir (GS-5734) effectively inhibited MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) replication in vitro, and showed efficacy against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-CoV in a mouse model. Here, we tested the efficacy of prophylactic and therapeutic remdesivir treatment in a nonhuman primate model of MERS-CoV infection, the rhesus macaque. Prophylactic remdesivir treatment initiated 24 h prior to inoculation completely prevented MERS-CoV-induced clinical disease, strongly inhibited MERS-CoV replication in respiratory tissues, and prevented the formation of lung lesions. Therapeutic remdesivir treatment initiated 12 h postinoculation also provided a clear clinical benefit, with a reduction in clinical signs, reduced virus replication in the lungs, and decreased presence and severity of lung lesions. The data presented here support testing of the efficacy of remdesivir treatment in the context of a MERS clinical trial. It may also be considered for a wider range of coronaviruses, including the currently emerging novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

中文翻译：

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在MERS-CoV感染的猕猴模型中的预防性和治疗性瑞姆昔韦（GS-5734）治疗。

病死率高的中东呼吸综合症（MERS）病例的不断出现，凸显了对有效抗病毒治疗的需求。伦地西韦（GS-5734）在体外有效抑制MERS冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）复制，并在小鼠模型中显示出对严重急性呼吸系统综合症（SARS）-CoV的功效。在这里，我们在MERS-CoV感染的非人类灵长类动物模型恒河猴中测试了预防和治疗性瑞姆昔韦治疗的功效。接种前24小时开始的瑞姆昔韦韦预防性治疗完全预防了MERS-CoV引起的临床疾病，强烈抑制了呼吸系统中MERS-CoV的复制，并防止了肺部病变的形成。接种后12小时开始雷姆昔韦的治疗性治疗也提供了明显的临床益处，临床症状减少，肺部病毒复制减少以及肺部病变的存在和严重程度降低。此处提供的数据支持在MERS临床试验中测试雷姆昔韦治疗的疗效。也可能考虑将其用于更广泛的冠状病毒，包括当前新兴的新型冠状病毒2019-nCoV。