How is the development of new treatments to combat COVID-19 progressing?

It has been almost two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the existence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 and caused a global pandemic. Since then, various studies have been launched to end this terrible disease that has already taken millions of lives with it.

In fact, with the arrival of the vaccines Significant progress has been made in trying to find effective drugs for the treatment of this disease. However, according to the BBC, laboratories in different parts of the world continue to investigate more than 150 different drugs in mid-2020 in their attempt to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and its variants.

Now, pharmaceuticals like Pfizer, Merck, Sharp & Dohme and Ridgeback have been developing pills to combat the COVID-19. The Swiss Laboratory Roche and the South Korean Celltrion they also do the same.

Paxlovid

The laboratory Pfizer announced on November 5 that a clinical trial on its pill anticovid showed high effectiveness. The drug, called Paxlovid, which began to develop in March 2020, managed to lower the risk of hospitalization and death by 89% among adult patients with COVID-19 at high risk of developing severe forms of the disease.

According to the agency AFP, the results of this intermediate clinical trial are so good that the American laboratory said it will stop testing and send the data to the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) as soon as possible, as part of its “Continuous presentation” to obtain authorization for emergency use.

The executive director of Pfizer, Albert BourlaHe later told CNN that he hopes the authorization request can take place “before Thanksgiving,” that is, before November 25.

“Today’s news is a real game changer in global efforts to halt the devastation of this pandemic.”, said Bourla.

The main analysis of the trial evaluated data from 1,219 adults in America, Europe, Africa and Asia. In the days immediately after the onset of symptoms, some of them received the experimental drug and others a placebo, for five days, every 12 hours.

Molnupiravir

Originally developed to treat the flu, the pill Molnupiravir was approved for the treatment of COVID-19 by UK Medicines Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

According to the BBC, the pill can be administered twice a day to patients who have tested positive and who have at least one risk factor for developing severe disease.

Designed by American Pharmaceuticals Merck, Sharp y Dohme and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, Molnupiravir it became one of the pills to be approved by specialists for use in anticovid treatment. However, you must have the approval of the WHO.

“This is a historic day for our country, as the United Kingdom is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral against covid-19 that can be taken at home”Sajid Javid, Minister of Health, said in a statement on November 4.

“It will change the situation of the most vulnerable and the immunosuppressed, who will soon be able to receive the revolutionary treatment”he added.

AFP indicates that the Molnupiravir It was initially developed as an inhibitor of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (two other major acute respiratory infections) by a team from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ronapreve and Regkirona

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced this week that it approved for the first time the commercialization in the market of European Union (EU) of two treatments with antibodies against coronavirus.

The regulatory body indicated that it had approved the use of a treatment from the Swiss pharmaceutical laboratory Roche, the Ronapreve, and a treatment from the South Korean laboratory Celltrion, called Regkirona.

“Ronapreve and Regkirona are the first monoclonal antibody-based drugs to receive a positive assessment (…) against COVID-19”said the Amsterdam-based EMA.

The European Commissioner for Health, Stella Kyriakides, declared that the approval of the two medicines was a “important stage”Against the disease since EU so far it relies on four vaccines.

“At a time when infections are on the rise in almost all Member States, it is comforting to see promising new treatments under development within our pharmaceutical strategy against COVID-19″he declared.

Other potential oral antivirals against COVID-19 are on the way. The company Atea Pharmaceuticals, In collaboration with Roche, is evaluating the candidate AT-527 in a global multicenter phase 3 clinical trial, called MORNINGSKY, for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in an outpatient setting.

According to The Conversation, the AT-527 It is designed as an orally administered direct-acting antiviral to stop the progression of COVID-19 by inhibiting virus replication SARS-CoV-2.

This week, DW spoke with the virologist Felix Drexler, from the Charité University Clinic in Berlin, who pointed out that the pills are most likely only effective in the early stages of infection. “Oral therapy is scheduled every twelve hours for five days”, he remarked.

“In addition to the duration of therapy, both (Molnupiravir and Paxlovid) are similar in cost and work especially when delivered early. Because when COVID-19 progresses and becomes a serious disease, the virus stops replicating “Drexler continued to point out.

“Any antiviral treatment, whether with antibodies or a pill, works that way. Overall, this is very positive news, but that does not mean that you should stop vaccinating. It should be noted that these new pills are not a substitute for vaccination “, sentenced.