President Lin Chih-Hung stated that during the global spread of the COVID-19 virus, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University promptly assembled a highly competitive and interdisciplinary biology and drug development team. Leveraging artificial intelligence and big data methods, the team screened a large number of globally used drugs and identified Boceprevir, Telaprevir, Nelfinavir, and one anti-inflammatory drug (JMY206) as potential candidates for the treatment of COVID-19. This approach not only significantly reduces costs but also shortens the time needed for pre-market clinical trials, allowing these drugs to be rapidly deployed at the forefront of medical care to save more lives. Moreover, it can lead to shorter hospital stays for patients, minimizing the risk of infection for healthcare workers and others. This strategic approach positions Taiwan at the forefront of the global battle against the pandemic.
Dean Yang Jin-Mu stated that the development team has achieved a comprehensive “one-stop service” integration, encompassing intelligent computing, cell experiments, and animal experiments. The team includes members from National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, National Taiwan University, Academia Sinica, National Chung Hsing University, and the Institute of Preventive Medicine, National Defense Medical Center (the only P4 level virus laboratory in Taiwan). This collaboration represents a large-scale integration of top-tier research capabilities in Taiwan. Led by Nikhil Pathak, a doctoral student from National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University’s Intelligent Drug Development Team, along with Hsu Nai-Chao, Hsu Yan-Chao, and Chen Yun-Ti, the team employed artificial intelligence and big data methods to simulate the cellular changes in the host following viral infection. They compared over 250 publicly available 3D structures of the main coronavirus protease globally and identified six possible dynamic structures of the key protein responsible for the invasion of the human body by the novel coronavirus. By targeting the “gate” of the protease, the team identified potential drugs with inhibitory effects against the COVID-19 virus within just three months.
The potential drugs discovered include Boceprevir and Telaprevir, which are antiviral drugs for hepatitis C, and Nelfinavir, an anti-HIV drug. Additionally, one of the drugs, JMY206, showed inhibitory effects on the novel coronavirus several folds stronger than Remdesivir in cell experiments, and its therapeutic effects were confirmed in animal experiments. As a result, JMY206 holds promise as an orally administered anti-COVID-19 drug.
In this collaborative effort, Dr. Liang Bo-Huang from the Institute of Biochemistry, Academia Sinica, and Associate Professor Guo Zhi-Rong from the Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, conducted enzyme activity testing for the protease. Additionally, Professor Kang Chao-Chou from the School of Pharmacy, National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, and the team from the Institute of Preventive Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, led by Director Hong Yi-Ren, along with Dr. Hsieh Po-Hsuan, Dr. Huang Chih-Heng, and Dr. Zhang Yu-Hsiu, along with Professor Chang Shu-Yuan from the Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, National Taiwan University, carried out multiple cell experiments to validate the findings. All act with one goal in mind, enhance Taiwan’s research in biotechnology and medicine and accelerate the development of Taiwan’s healthcare industry. Some of the research results have since been published in the prestigious international journal “ACS Nano.”
National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) is actively supporting the fight against the pandemic through its research contributions. Recently, Associate Professor Hsiao Yu-Yuan and his structural biology team successfully purified the Nsp14 protease of the novel coronavirus (a crucial enzyme for viral replication and infection). They are now using structure-based drug design methods to develop inhibitors for this protease, aiming to halt viral replication using small molecule inhibitors.
Meanwhile, Associate Professor Huang Cheng and his antiviral drug development team have developed an innovative platform for screening antiviral herbal medicines. Through this platform, they have identified components such as catechins, which have shown effectiveness in preventing coronavirus infections and promoting health.
Professor Lin Chih-Sheng has introduced K18-hACE2 mice from The Jackson Laboratory in the USA and successfully bred and established a safe mouse model for studying the novel coronavirus. The goal is to identify clinically valuable oral drugs to combat the pandemic together with Taiwan.
These research efforts are supported by funding and facilities from various sources, including the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education SPROUT Project – Center For Intelligent Drug Systems and Smart Bio-devices, the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Artificial Intelligence Project – Joint Research Center for AI Technology and All Vista Healthcare, the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Epidemic Science Research Center Project, NYCU’s College of Biomedical Science and Engineering, NYCU’s Information and Communications Center, and the National Health Research Institutes’ Integrated Project.
