Here Come the Coronavirus Pills

A couple of months ago, I blogged about some Phoenix-area physicians who were enrolling participants in a clinical trial to test some coronavirus pills. The drug, molnupriavir, interferes with the virus's ability to replicate itself successfully.

The trial was successful—so successful that they called an early end to Phase III. The drug worked so well an independent review board concluded it would be unethical to continue giving half the participants a placebo.

The two pharma companies developing the drug, Merck and Ridgeback, said that it reduces the chances of hospitalization or death by 50%. Treatment consists of four capsules taken twice a day for four days.

Even better news is that the drug messes with the virus's reproductive machinery, which is common to all coronaviruses and is also something that is unlikely to change through mutation. So it should work against SARS-CoV-2 and all its variants, as well as future variants and future SARS-type viruses. In fact, it may be effective against other RNA viruses too, such as Ebola, RSV, hepatitis C, and norovirus.

Pfizer announced successful trials of another antiviral it has developed. Interim results say this one reduces the chances of hospitalization or death by 89%.

This seems like good news. At least it should take pressure off our hospitals. But I worry that it will decrease incentives for people to get vaccinated if they can just take a pill after the fact. People are still infected and contagious before getting this treatment, so the virus will still be able to spread.

It will also be interesting to see how the anti-vaxxers will respond to this. These pills were developed "too fast" as well, by their standards. 

Update November 28

No sooner did I push the publish button on this than Merck came out with an announcement that their pill's effectiveness was lower then they originally thought. Now they estimate that people who take it are 30% less likely to be hospitalized,  not 50% less likely.




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