Despite the recent success of multiple vaccines in the prevention of COVID-19, there is still an urgent need to develop targeted therapeutics for the treatment of COVID-19. This is imperative given the emergence of rapidly spreading new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus 1,2 -the causative agent of COVID-19, which threatens to compromise vaccine efficacy. To date, the nucleoside analog Veklury (remdesivir) remains the only antiviral drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization-although no meaningful mortality benefit to patients has been shown. This presents a serious unmet medical need in COVID-19 treatment given the significant global impact of the disease.