Scientists have found a substance to fight coronavirus
Miscellaneous / / October 07, 2021
It halves the risk of hospitalization.
Pharmaceutical companies Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics reportedthat the experimental drug molnupiravir is effective in the fight against coronavirus. This was proven during the third phase of clinical trials, which involved about 750 people.
All participants had mild to moderate laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 and met at least one risk factor for an unfavorable course of the disease (obesity, diabetes mellitus, age over 60 years and etc.). For five days, some subjects were given a placebo while others took molnupiravir tablets.
According to an interim analysis, molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by about 50%. For 29 days, 53 patients out of 377 (14.1%) were hospitalized in the placebo group and eight died. In the second group, taking the drug, 28 people out of 385 (7.3%) were hospitalized and none of them died.
Scientists also confirmed that the drug was equally effective for all variants of the virus, including strains of gamma, delta and mu. The effectiveness of the drug did not depend on the specific symptomatology and the initial risk factors for the unfavorable course of the patient's disease.
These results made it possible to complete the drug trials ahead of schedule. Merck is now planning to apply for permission to use molnupiravir in emergency situations as soon as possible. US FDA (Food and Drug Administration), as well as regulatory agencies in other countries.
The effectiveness of lightnupiravir has been confirmed not only in the United States. Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero Labs conducted its researchHetero Announces Interim Clinical Results from Phase III Clinical Trials of Molnupiravir conducted in India the effect of the drug on patients with COVID-19 in a mild form. Interim results showed that 6.2% of patients were hospitalized in the placebo group within 14 days of observation, and only 1.6% in the main group receiving molnupiravir.
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