How does molnupiravir, the first approved pill against COVID-19, work?

The UK health authorities have approved the use of the first antiviral pill against COVID-19, the molnupiravir, which can be used in patients who have tested positive and who have at least one risk factor for developing a serious disease.

The Drug Regulatory Agency (MHRA) considered in a statement that the drug is “in people with mild to moderate covid who suffer an extra risk ”.

The British Minister of Health, Sayid Javid, highlighted in an intervention on social networks that it is a “historic day” for the United Kingdom, becoming “the first country in the world to approve an antiviral for covid that can be take home”.

How does molnupiravir work?

The drug, originally developed to treat the flu, prevents its multiplication and maintains the viral load at low levels in the body, thereby reducing the severity of the disease.

Antivirals such as molnupiravir work by reducing the disease, thus slowing down the disease.

The use of this drug can be twofold: both to prevent those infected from suffering serious symptoms, and to prevent those who have been from developing the disease.

Merck reported that it is also conducting a clinical trial just to check its effectiveness for the second use.

The request submitted by the US company on Monday is based on the clinical trial it conducted with its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics in people with mild or moderate cases of COVID-19 and at least one risk factor. They received the treatment within five days of the first symptoms.

The rate of hospitalization or death in patients who received drug f

There were no deaths among those treated with molnupiravir, compared to 8 in the second group.

That is, the molnupiravir treatment, given to patients within days of testing positive, according to a clinical trial conducted by Merck, also known as MSD outside the United States.

The results were convincing enough that an independent data oversight committee, in consultation with the FDA, decided to stop the trial prematurely.

As the market is potentially huge, several laboratories have positioned themselves in this niche.

Pfizer is currently testing its own antiviral treatment, called PF-07321332, in thousands of people, both to evaluate its effectiveness in people already infected with COVID-19 and in those close to someone who has contracted the disease, to prevent them from developing it. themselves.

Who can use it?

This drug is recommended, for example, for obese people, over 60 years and patients with diabetes or heart problems.

The MHRA indicated that the drug should be covid or within five days of confirmation of the infection.

Regulators’ recommendation is that the pill be taken by these

Molnupiravir has been developed by the American pharmaceutical companies Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutic, and it is the first drug for the treatment of covid that can be

The British regulator’s CEO, June Raine, called the drug “another therapy for our armor against covid-19,” adding that its approval is important because it can be taken outside of the hospital setting.

Agencies

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