Effects of simeprevir on the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and in transgenic hACE2 mice

•COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2, still lacks an efficient antiviral drug.•Simeprevir is a second-generation protease inhibitor approved for the management of hepatitis C virus infection.•By molecular modelling studies, simeprevir has been predicted as a potential antiviral against SARS-CoV-2.•Simeprevir showed inhibitory effects against SARS-CoV-2 in cell culture in vitro.•Simeprevir failed to show significant inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 in transgenic hACE2 mice at 10 mg/kg/day.