On Mar. 13, 2020, Enanta Pharmaceuticals announced it had initiated a program to discover direct-acting antiviral drug candidates for the treatment of patients infected with the novel coronavirus COVID-19, also known as SARS-CoV-2.

The company planned to leverage its virology expertise with protease inhibitors – paritaprevir and glecaprevir – for use against hepatitis C virus, and its development of candidates for respiratory syncytial virus and human metapneumovirus, to explore approaches against this pandemic health threat.