In the fight against COVID-19, scientists are rushing to find the next best solution to make living with the virus a lot easier.
While vaccination drives certainly play an integral role in protecting society from the virus, they're not necessarily the most accessible forms of mitigation. After all, one would be required to travel to said vaccination venue and then wait in line to get their jabs.
For those that don't possess the means to travel to these venues, getting jabbed can be quite a challenging endeavor.
Pharmaceutical firm Merck & Co. has developed the world's first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19.
Essentially, it's COVID-19 medicine in pill form.
The drug, called molnupiravir, is currently seeking Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and experts are placing high hopes on the pill.
According to clinical trials, molnupiravir reduces the likelihood of hospitalization and death in mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases by 50 percent when taken within five days of symptoms presenting themselves. All the patients in the trial also had at least one comorbidity, which would traditionally affect their likelihood of survival, like obesity or old age.
Such a promising result in a simple pill that can be taken at home like any other medicine.
"An oral antiviral that can impact hospitalization risk to such a degree would be game-changing," says Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Out of 385 patients that took the pill, only 28 individuals were hospitalized with COVID-19. At the same time, 53 out of 377 patients that were in the placebo group wound up in hospital as well. But here's the biggest saving grace for the COVID-19 pill – none of the patients that were hospitalized after taking molnupiravir died. Compare that with eight patients in the placebo group, and the results are telling.
Merck points out that interim data shows no signs of adverse affects in the cohort trials. But we still need to exercise caution for now.
“This drug works by causing the machinery that reproduces COVID-19’s genetic material to make mistakes, thereby stopping effective replication,” says Simon Clarke, a cellular microbiologist from the University of Reading.
“That mode of action could cause problems with our own cells, and while reports are that the drug is well tolerated, we still don’t have full details of any side effects.”
According to Merck CEO Robert Davis, the U.S. government has already pre-ordered 1.7 million courses of the drug, pending EUA from the FDA.
“With these compelling results, we are optimistic that molnupiravir can become an important medicine as part of the global effort to fight the pandemic and will add to Merck’s unique legacy of bringing forward breakthroughs in infectious diseases when they are needed most,” says Davis.
Current estimates point to molnupiravir – which should be taken over the course of five days – costing roughly US$700. However, prices will differ (lower) when it comes to the drug's distribution and sale in low-income countries. Countries like Malaysia are also in talks with the pharmaceutical firm to procure some courses of the pill.
"As we transition to living with COVID, we will be adding new, innovative treatment options to our arsenal in addition to vaccines," said Malaysia's Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin in a tweet. "I have already started negotiating for Malaysia to procure these effective drugs that have gone through clinical trials."
And price does play a huge role in the drug's success. Make it too high, and no one will want it, despite its proven abilities. Make it too 'cheap', and no one stands to profit from it.
“In my opinion, these drugs might have a role IF you can first identify people at risk of more serious disease,” says Peter English, former chair of the British Medical Association’s Public Health Medicine Committee.
“Unless an antiviral medication could be made so cheap and so safe that it can be used 'on spec' by people who might have COVID-19, they are unlikely to be widely useful.”
It's currently unclear just how long it will take to get FDA approval, but Merck officials have said they're enthusiastic about the drug's wider appeal.
Of course, at this point, vaccination is still the best option, even with a COVID-19 pill in circulation.
Click here to read the full clinical trial findings.
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Cover image sourced from The Associated Press / Merck & Co.
