Pills that reduce the risk of dying from COVID-19. How do they work?

The world is looking for a drug against COVID-19 that would be easy to administer. And there are effects of it. There has been a lot of talk recently about the two antiviral pills used to fight the coronavirus. It is Paxlovid developed by Pfizer and molnupiravir developed by Merck & Co. The latter may be available in Poland as early as mid-December. What do we know about these drugs and how they work?

1. The companies are working on creating oral pills used against COVID-19. Such preparations are easier to manufacture and store, and patients can use them at home
2. Two oral antiviral drugs have been a topic of publicity recently. It is about molnupiravir by Merck & Co and Paxlovid by Pfizer
3. These drugs reduce the risk of hospitalization or death in those most at risk of severe COVID-19. However, they operate on a different basis. What exactly?
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

Home COVID-19 pills

Pharmaceutical companies from around the world are working to create effective and safe drugs against COVID-19. On November 11, the Committee on Medicines for People of the European Medicines Agency issued a positive assessment of two anti-coronavirus preparations: Ronapreve and Regkiron (both in the form of infusion solutions). More on this in the article: EMA has approved two new drugs for COVID-19. How do they work and when can they help?).

Work is also underway to create preparations that are easy to administer and store, i.e. an anti-COVID-19 drug in the form of an oral pill. Such preparations are easier to manufacture and do not need to be refrigerated, such as in vaccines. Moreover, patients can use them freely at home. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about two drugs of this type. They are molnupiravir developed by Merck & Co and Paxlovid developed by Pfizer.

Pill against COVID-19. Molnupiravir – how does it work, for whom?

Simply put, molnupiravir reduces the symptoms of coronavirus infection and speeds recovery. Doctors point out that this medicine may play a significant role in people who do not respond well to vaccinations. Going into the details, Merck’s pill works by targeting an enzyme that the pathogen uses to make copies of itself. This is to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus, preventing it from spreading throughout the body.

Clinical studies suggest that this pill can halve the risk of hospitalization or death in those most at risk of severe COVID-19. Hence, this drug is intended for people who have at least one risk factor for developing a severe course of COVID-19 (i.e. high-risk patients) – adults and in whom the test has confirmed the presence of the coronavirus. The drug is to be taken orally twice a day for five days by people who do not require hospitalization (mild to moderate course of COVID-19).

Merck believes that the drug will also be effective against future variants of the virus. The company also reports that, according to previous studies, molnupiravir works against all variants of the coronavirus, including the highly infectious Delta mutation.

Soon, the European Medicines Agency will most likely recommend it for emergency use – each country will decide to use it, in addition to the registration process. As the spokesman of the Ministry of Health informed a few days ago, molnupiravir in Poland will probably be available in mid-December. It is worth adding that the first drug was approved by Great Britain (at the beginning of November).

Pill against COVID-19. Paxlovid – how does it work, for whom?

In early November, the Pfizer concern announced the end of clinical trials on another oral drug against COVID-19 – Paxlovid. On November 15, he announced that he had applied to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval to use it as a treatment.

The above-mentioned clinical trials showed that Paxlovid reduced by 89%. risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death in high-risk adult patients diagnosed with early symptoms of COVID-19. For best treatment results, start taking the tablet within three days of the appearance of symptoms of infection. This in turn means that a very important step in the fight against the consequences of infection is early testing and quick diagnosis.

1. What symptoms are most often reported by COVID-19 patients now? A doctor from the Lublin region explains

Paxlovid aims to block an enzyme that the coronavirus needs to multiply. More on this.

Pfizer recently said it would allow generic drug makers to produce the anti-COVID-19 pill. The company has signed an agreement with the UN-backed organization Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), which will be able to license the production of this drug. Thanks to the agreement, the drug will be available to 95 low and middle-income countries.

Merck & Co. made a similar decision. At the end of October, the company announced that it had signed an agreement with MPP. Thanks to it, the license to produce molnupiravir will be made available to other producers.

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