Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-
2) has caused corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic and led to mass casualty. Even though much effort
has been put into development of vaccine and treatment
methods
to combat COVID-19, no safe and efficient
cure has been discovered. Drug repurposing or drug repositioning
which is a process of investigating pre-existing drug
candidates for novel applications outside their original medical
indication can speed up the drug development process.
Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM)
that has been approved by FDA in 1997 for treatment and
prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis and cancer. Recently,
raloxifene demonstrates efficacy in treating viral infections
by Ebola, influenza A, and hepatitis C viruses and
shows potential for drug repurposing for the treatment of
SARS-CoV-2 infection. This review will provide an overview
of raloxifene’s mechanism of action as a SERM and present
proposed mechanisms of action in treatment of viral infections.