Oral medicine (picture source: Adobe stock picture)
[Look at China October 6, 2021]According to the Dutch NOS report on October 5, the confrontationcovid-19There may be new “weapons”.AmericaMerckThe pharmaceutical company (Merck&Co) announced last week based on clinical research thatOral medicationAnti-covid-19 drugsMonelavi(Molnupiravir) test results show that if treatment is timely, 50% of high-risk populations can be prevented from hospitalization and death.
Merck’s share price rose at a “lightning” speed. The United States has placed orders, and some Asian countries are also interested in the drug. Australian Prime Minister Morrison announced on October 5 that Australia will purchase 300,000 experimental anti-covid-19 oral medications from Merck.
Reuters reported that the drug called Molnupiravir is the first oral anti-covid-19 drug. Experts say that if monelavir is approved by the drug regulatory authority, it will be expected to halve the deaths and hospitalizations of covid-19.
Eric Snijder, a virologist at LUMC at Leiden University School of Medicine in the Netherlands, said the results announced by Merck Pharmaceuticals are encouraging and a “welcome supplement.” So far, the antiviral drug remdesivir (remdesivir), which has been shown to have a certain activity against covid-19, must be administered intravenously, and “this almost only happens in hospitals.”
Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst said: “This makes it easier to treat diseases. Nevertheless, it should be noted that, like all antiviral drugs, they should be taken as early as possible, and antiviral drugs are also Not a panacea.”
According to Merck, if treatment is started within five days of the onset of symptoms, it will be effective.
The patient must take four pills twice a day for a total of five days. The drug causes errors in the genetic code of the virus, thereby preventing the virus from replicating itself.
Merck’s trial research also shows that once the patient’s condition gets worse and needs to be admitted to the hospital, the drug has no obvious detectable effect. Other drugs can be used in the hospital, such as remdesivir and antibodies developed by the laboratory, but that is in the later stages of the infection, which means that adverse side effects are more likely.
As with antibiotics against bacteria, antiviral drugs also carry the risk of resistance. Therefore, the virus mutates in such a way that the drug is no longer effective. Virologist Snyder said: “You can only use this drug after you have at least confirmed that someone is infected and have a positive self-test, but it is best to be tested by PCR. Use it selectively to minimize drug resistance. The problem.”
Virologists said that if monelavir antiviral drugs are on the market, they will be mainly used for high-risk groups: the elderly, people with common diseases, and people with poor vaccine effects. Therefore, this drug should not be seen as a substitute for vaccines. And cost will also become a global issue, after all, vaccines only cost a few euros. Currently using Merck’s drug treatment, a single course of 700 US dollars contains 40 pills. This pharmaceutical company has promised that it will consider the economic status of a country.
Snyder said that although this virus inhibitor is not a substitute for a vaccine, it may soon be needed on a larger scale. At the same time, it said that because the new vaccine can adapt to the new covid-19 variant quite quickly, but it still takes six months to be used, it is a good thing to have these drug resources to bridge that period. He believes that this drug may help deal with various variants in the future.
Editor in charge: Li Xuan
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