
Broad-spectrum antivirals (BSAs) are a class of molecules orcompounds, which inhibit the infection of multiple viruses from the same (intra-family BSAs) or different (inter-family BSAs) virus families. BSAs could be divided into experimental and investigational agents, and approved drugs. BSAs work by inhibitingviral proteins (such aspolymerases andproteases) or by targeting host cell factors and processes exploited by different viruses during infection.[1] As of 2021, there are 150 known BSAs in varying stages of development, effective against 78 human viruses.[2] BSAs are potential candidates for treatment ofemerging and re-emerging viruses, such asebola,marburg, andSARS-CoV-2.[3][4] Many BSAs show antiviral activity against other viruses than originally investigated (such asremdesivir andinterferon alfa). Efforts indrug repurposing for SARS-CoV-2 is currently underway. A database of BSAs and viruses they inhibit could be found here (https://drugvirus.info/).