Pharmaceutical giant Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics on October 1, 2021, announced its new anti-viral drug Molnupiravir to treat COVID-19 infection. The anti-viral drug was reported to have reduced the chances of hospitalization by half in COVID-19 patients with mild or moderate disease during the Phase-3 trials. In 2021, Merck had signed a procurement agreement with the US to supply about 1.7 million courses of Molnupiravir to the US after getting the US FDA or EUA approval.
Molnupiravir, new drug to treat COVID-19
Molnupiravir is an anti-viral drug by pharmaceutical company Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to treat COVID-19 infection. During the Phase-3 trials of the drug, it was found that it reduced the hospitalization rate by half in patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 infection.
Molnupiravir is to be administered intravenously unlike other COVID-19 treatments with similar efficacy. EIDD 2801 is the company name of Molnupiravir in which the E indicates that it was developed at Emory University.
Merck has reported that the company has worked on a game-changer pill to treat COVID-19 infection as anti-viral drugs are deemed not as effective as oral pills, however.
How does Molnupiravir work?
Anti-viral drugs work by preventing the process of replication of the virus inside human cells. During the test of Molnupiravir on cultured cells, it was found that it altered critical enzymes that were necessary to the virus for replicating in the human body cells.
As of now, the Emergency Use Authorization is awaited for the drug but currently, it can be administered as a pill in a 5-day regimen.
Molnupiravir – Trial results
During the trials of Molnupiravir, 53 patients were administered the placebo, and 28 were given the anti-viral drug. 14 per cent out of 53 with placebo were hospitalized or passed away while 7.3 per cent out of 28 with the anti-viral drugs were hospitalized or passed away. However, after 29 days, no patient administered with Molnupiravir died compared to 8 patients who got placebo died.
Molnupiravir has been tested on patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 infection and at least one high-risk disease factor such as diabetes mellitus, obesity, heart disease, or older age (>60 years). The trials also noted that 40 per cent of participants got genome-sequencing to assess the efficacy of Molnupiravir against specific variants of COVID-19 such as Gamma, Delta, Mu. The drug was found to have shown ‘consistent efficacy’.
When will Molnupiravir be available to treat COVID-19?
Complete data of Phase-3 trials are yet to be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal. Merck will also submit the data to the United States Food and Drugs Administration for getting Emergency Use Authorization. Once it gets approval, the company has announced to supply 1.7 million courses of Molnupiravir to the US.
Merck in a company statement also said that the company is expecting to produce 10 million courses of Molnupiravir by end of 2021. The company has signed agreements with governments across the world to accelerate production.
As per media reports, the cost of treatment of COVID-19 with Molnupiravir is estimated to be cheaper than the monoclonal antibody therapy.
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