Abstract
Since the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 in December 2019 millions of infections have been reported globally. The viral chymotrypsin-like main protease (M(Pro) ) exhibits a crucial role in viral replication and represents a relevant target for antiviral drug development. In order to screen potential M(Pro) inhibitors we developed a luminescent assay using a peptide based probe containing a cleavage site specific for M(Pro) . This assay was validated showing IC(50) values similar to those reported in the literature for known M(Pro) inhibitors and can be used to screen new inhibitors.