- Jim Reed
- Health Reporter
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Image source, Merck
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Molnupiravir is the first oral antiviral drug for Covid for which trial results have been reported.
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An experimental drug taken by patients with Covid-19 could reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about half, according to preliminary clinical trial results.
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The antiviral drug, called molnupiravir, is given in tablet form twice a day to patients who have just been diagnosed with Covid-19.
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US drugmaker Merck said the results were so positive that external watchdogs asked for the trial to be terminated early.
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The company said it would apply for an emergency use permit (Emergency Use Authorisation, EUA) for the drug in the US in the next two weeks.
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Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, called the results “excellent news”, but called for caution until the US food and drug regulatory agency, the FDA, reviews data from clinical trials.
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First oral treatment
If it gets permission from regulators, molnupiravir will be the first antiviral drug for Covid-19 patients to be given orally (by mouth).
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The pill, which was originally developed to treat influenza, is designed to damage the virus’ genetic code, preventing it from spreading in the body.
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An analysis of 775 patients in the study found:
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- 7.3% of those given molnupiravir were hospitalized
- That’s compared to 14.1% of patients given a placebo
- There were no deaths in the molnupiravir group, but eight patients given a placebo in the trial later died of Covid.
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The data is published in press releases and through a peer-reviewed process or peer-review.
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Unlike most Covid vaccines, which target protein spike outside of viruses, this treatment works by targeting an enzyme that the virus uses to make copies of itself.
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Merck, which is known as MSD in the UK, says that this mode of action keeps the drug effective against new variants of the virus that emerges in the future.
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Image source, Reuters
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Molnupiravir, a tablet given twice daily, is designed to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from Covid.
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Daria Hazuda, vice president of Merck’s infectious disease discovery division, told the BBC: “Antiviral treatment for people who are not vaccinated, or who are less responsive to vaccine immunity, is a very important tool in helping to end this pandemic.”
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Trials show that molnupiravir needs to be taken in the early stages of the disease, when symptoms begin to appear, for it to take effect. Previous studies on patients already hospitalized with severe Covid were discontinued after disappointing results.
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Global approval
Merck was the first company to report the results of a trial of a pill for Covid, but other companies are trying to create a similar drug.
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Merck’s US rival Pfizer recently started a late-stage trial of two different antiviral tablets, while Swiss company Roche is working on a similar drug.
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Merck said it hopes to produce 10 million programs of molnupiravir by the end of 2021. The US government has agreed to buy the drug for $1.2 billion if it gets approval from the regulatory agency, the FDA.
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Merck said it was in negotiations with other countries, including the UK, and had also agreed licensing deals with a number of generic drug manufacturers to supply the drug to countries with a majority of low- and middle-income residents.
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Prof Peter Horby, an infectious disease expert at the University of Oxford, said: “Safe, affordable and effective oral antiviral drugs would be a major advance in the fight against Covid.
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“Molnupiravir looks promising in the laboratory, but the real test is whether it benefits patients. Many drugs fail at this point, so the provisional results are very encouraging.”
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