‘There's a possibility that SARS-CoV-2 could do an end run around the drug; any variant that happens to be less susceptible to the drug’s modus operandi could survive and become more dominant, pushing the virus’s evolution toward resistance. And SARS-CoV-2 has already shown its propensity for outsmarting certain treatments: In July 2021 the US halted shipments of an antibody therapy from Eli Lilly after detecting resistance in newer variants of the virus.’
Read here (Wired, Nov 1, 2021)
‘A new pill with the promise to treat Covid-19 is creating waves across the world and even at US$700 for a five-day course of treatment, it might just be a game changer. It is too early to tell if it will be available to Malaysians, although health minister Khairy Jamaluddin has revealed that he has started negotiations for Malaysia to procure the drug Molnupiravir, which is reputed to have shown a 50% reduction in the risk of hospitalisation and death.
‘Developed by US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co, the pill has yet to get emergency authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It would be the first Covid-19 oral antiviral medicine, if approved.
‘How does the pill work? The pill has been designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus, thereby stopping effective replication. It is designed to be taken once someone displays Covid-19 symptoms. One course of the treatment lasts five days, with four capsules taken twice a day for a total of 40 pills.
‘How effective is it? Merck says the drug cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death in half according to trials conducted among 775 Covid-19 adults with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 symptoms. After 29 days, 7% of those who received the drug were hospitalised compared to 14% of those who received the placebo. No deaths were reported in patients who received Molnupiravir while there were eight deaths in patients who took the placebo, the company said.’
Read here (Free Malaysia Today, Oct 3, 2021)
‘An orally-administered antiviral drug initially developed to treat influenza can significantly decrease novel coronavirus levels in hamsters and is in the final stages of human trials, holding out promise of a pill to combat COVID-19, say researchers.
‘Scientists from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US and the University of Plymouth in the UK found that MK-4482, also called Molnupiravir, was effective when provided up to 12 hours before or 12 hours after infection with SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The drug can also decrease damage it causes to lungs, states the study conducted on hamsters.
‘Published in the journal Nature Communications on April 16, it suggests that treatment with MK-4482 could potentially mitigate high-risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and might be used to treat established SARS-CoV-2 infection alone or in combination with other agents. There are currently no drugs suitable for high-risk exposure use against SARS-CoV-2, the researchers said.’
Read here (Economic Times, Times of India, Apr 19, 2021)
‘The COVID-19 pandemic progresses unabated in many regions of the world. An effective antiviral against SARS-CoV-2 that could be administered orally for use following high-risk exposure would be of substantial benefit in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. Herein, we show that MK-4482, an orally administered nucleoside analog, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in the Syrian hamster model. The inhibitory effect of MK-4482 on SARS-CoV-2 replication is observed in animals when the drug is administered either beginning 12 h before or 12 h following infection in a high-risk exposure model. These data support the potential utility of MK-4482 to control SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans following high-risk exposure as well as for treatment of COVID-19 patients.’
Read here (Nature, Apr 16, 2021)
‘Despite dire warnings, a stockpile of ready compounds to fight viral pandemics was sorely lacking. Can drugmakers finally do the right thing?...
“What we will hopefully find”, he [Alejandro Chavez, a bioengineer and antiviral drug researcher at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City] says, “are inhibitors that work on, if you’re really lucky, an entire family.” That would make the best-case scenario a pan-coronavirus inhibitor. But a more reasonable goal might be developing a drug for a subset of coronaviruses, such as alphacoronaviruses, which currently cause non-lethal infections in humans, and having a different drug for betacoronaviruses, the group responsible for SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.
‘Once the viral lineage is identified, “the same principles of drug discovery apply”, says Marnix Van Loock, head of emerging pathogens at Johnson & Johnson’s global public-health unit in Beerse, Belgium. As he explains, researchers need to find ‘druggable pockets’ on the surface of essential enzymes that are conserved between related viruses and can be used to design active molecules.’
Read here (Nature, Apr 14, 2021)
‘The positive results of Molnupiravir represent an emerging hope for more Covid-19 therapies to come. Its oral administration indicates a potential drug that could come before hospitalization and perhaps even prevent severe symptoms. Were a pill-based treatment for Covid-19 available, many lives would be easily saved and many hospital beds could be opened for those who need them.
‘In addition to its reduction of Covid-19 transmission, Molnupiravir is likely to be useful against influenza, ebola, and a large swath of other viruses as well. Its development appears to be a major advancement in virus control and should be active against Covid-19 variants and variants of other viruses. However, we caution Molnupiravir should be administered in conjunction with other therapies to avoid viruses rapidly developing resistance, which all these viruses are well-equipped to do.
‘Though, as these results are preliminary, we eagerly await the full release of the phase two data and the drug’s eventual full trial outcomes. This could be a real winner.’
Read here (Forbes, Mar 16, 2021)
‘German pharmaceutical giant Merck and a US partner reported promising results on Saturday (Mar 6) in trials of a drug administered orally to fight COVID-19, saying it helps reduce patients' viral load...
‘In January, Merck halted work on two COVID-19 vaccine candidates but has pressed on with research into two products to treat the disease, including a pill-based one called molnupiravir, which it has developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
‘This drug caused a significant drop in patients' viral load after five days of treatment with it, Merck said at a meeting with infectious disease experts. This Phase 2A test - drug trials have three stages before a product can be approved - was carried out among 202 non-hospitalised people with symptoms of COVID-19.’
Read here (Channel News Asia, Mar 7, 2021)
‘The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) has issued a public statement in response to a press release recently issued by Merck.
‘The FLCCC Alliance reports that the Merck release of February 4, 2021— which concluded that there was no meaningful evidence for the clinical efficacy of ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 disease — did not provide any scientific data or analyses by Merck to support their conclusion.
‘Dr. Pierre Kory, President and Chief Medical Officer of the FLCCC said that, "The company's disregard for the most current medical evidence is an evidentiary indictment of their uncorroborated position. Merck's press release will cause governments, health authorities, medical providers, business leaders, and citizens to retreat from pursuing a medical agent that, according to our recent peer-reviewed and accepted publication to the highly regarded Frontiers in Pharmacology, has been proven to be an effective and globally available agent to prevent and treat every phase of COVID-19 disease."
Read here (PRWeb, Feb 16, 2021)
‘Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today affirmed its position regarding use of ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic. Company scientists continue to carefully examine the findings of all available and emerging studies of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 for evidence of efficacy and safety. It is important to note that, to-date, our analysis has identified:
We do not believe that the data available support the safety and efficacy of ivermectin beyond the doses and populations indicated in the regulatory agency-approved prescribing information.
Read here (Merck press statement, Feb 4, 2021)