The magnitude of the morbidity and mortality inflicted upon the global population in less than 1 year has driven the inescapable conclusion that the discovery and development of effective antiviral drugs for COVID-19 are urgent and should be prioritized. The antiviral drug discovery programs that emerged for HIV and hepatitis C virus have enabled technology and expertise to accelerate this process for SARS-CoV-2. The description of candidate lead inhibitors for the viral main protease (M^pro) exemplifies this accelerated approach and reminds us of the needs and opportunities for addressing this pandemic.

中文翻译：

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发现抗病毒药物以应对COVID-19大流行

在不到一年的时间里，全球人口患病和死亡的数量巨大，这不可避免地得出结论，即发现和开发有效的抗COVID-19抗病毒药物是紧迫的，应予以优先考虑。针对艾滋病毒和丙型肝炎病毒的抗病毒药物发现计划使技术和专业知识能够加速SARS-CoV-2的这一过程。病毒主要蛋白酶（M ^pro）的候选先导抑制剂的描述例证了这种加速方法，并提醒我们解决这一大流行的需求和机会。