The drug molnupiravir eliminates the active covid virus in three days

The oral drug against COVID-19 molnupiravir eliminates the actively infectious SARS-Cov-2 virus on the third day of starting therapy, according to a study to be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID).

However, “many patients” who received the placebo took up to five days to eliminate it and, in some cases, longer, says the study, which has been carried out by the pharmaceutical company MSD, a trade name of Merck, manufacturer of the drug.

The MOVe-OUT phase 2/3 trial has already confirmed the superiority of the drug over placebo in non-hospitalized adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 and risk of progression to severe disease, if therapy was started within five days of the start of COVID-19. onset of symptoms, according to The New England Journal of Medicine.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on the 3rd the inclusion of this antiviral in its list of recommended treatments against COVID-19and has also been approved for emergency use in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan.

The study that will be presented at ECCMID next week, but which has advanced today in a statement, indicates that the participants underwent PCR tests to determine the viral loads of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from nasopharyngeal swabs collected on days 1 (start), 3, 5 (end of treatment visit), 10, 15 and 29.

On the third day of treatment, none of the 92 participants who received molnupiravir had infectious SARS-CoV-2 detected, compared to 21.8% (20 of 96) of the participants who took placebo.

After five days, those treated with the drug remained virus-free, while in the other group it was still detected in 2.2%. Finally, on the tenth day, none of the participants in both groups were positive for the virus.

This analysis of the final data from the MOVe-OUT trial confirms previous observations showing that a five-day treatment with molnupiravir twice daily produces “a more rapid decline in viral RNA and a more rapid clearance of infectious virus than placebo” said Julie Strizki of MSD.