Pharmaceutical companies MSD (known as Merck in Canada and the United States) and Pfizer have announced encouraging results for the first oral treatments against Covid-19, while an antidepressant also showed promising signs, which could open a new chapter in the fight against the pandemic .
What are these treatments? There is talk of oral treatments, pills, or pills, which would be administered as soon as the first symptoms of Covid-19 appeared, with the aim of avoiding serious forms of the disease and, therefore, hospitalization.
After months of research, two US pharmaceutical giants have just announced that they have managed to do just that: MSD, in early October, with molnupirvir; and Pfizer, on Friday (5), with paxlovid.
These are antivirals that work by reducing the virus’s ability to replicate, slowing down the disease.
Both companies report a sharp reduction in hospitalizations among patients who have had their treatments – by half for molnupiravir, and nearly 90% for paxlovid – although direct comparisons of efficacy are not possible due to different study protocols .
In parallel, an antidepressant that is already in the public domain, fluvoxamine, showed encouraging results in preventing severe forms of Covid-19, according to a study published in October by Brazilian researchers in the journal Lancet Global Health.
Because it’s important? If confirmed that these drugs are effective, it will be a major step forward in the fight against Covid-19, because they would complement, but not replace, vaccination in the therapeutic arsenal against the virus.
Although treatments already exist –mainly in the form of synthetic antibodies–, they are drugs for patients who are already suffering from severe forms of the disease, in addition to being injected intravenously, therefore, they are complex to administer.
A pill, or pill, can be quickly prescribed to the patient, who can take it at home. The MSD and Pfizer treatments, which would also have few side effects, provide for ten doses in five days.
“The success of these antivirals potentially opens a new era in our ability to prevent the serious consequences of SARS-Cov2 infection,” said British virologist Stephen Griffin at the Science Media Center.
What are the limitations? It remains difficult to gauge the interest of MSD and Pfizer treatments, as the two groups have so far only published press releases, without giving details of their clinical trials.
In that sense, these ads should be “taken with caution” until studies are available, noted French infectious disease expert Karine Lacombe in September, emphasizing that these treatments represent a “potentially huge” market for manufacturers.
Still, there are clear indications that MSD and Pfizer aren’t making empty promises.
Regarding fluvoxamine, although the study is accessible to everyone, it is not without criticism.
Several researchers regret that the authors did not only assess the frequency of hospitalizations, but also the frequency of prolonged stays in emergency services, which makes data interpretation difficult.
When? And what cost? MSD’s molnupiravir is already approved in the United Kingdom, where health authorities gave the green light on Thursday (4) for its use in patients with at least one risk factor of developing a severe form of the disease, such as the elderly, obese and diabetics.
Health authorities in the United States and the European Union are also urgently reviewing the drug.
Last week, the EMA (European Medicines Agency) promised to “streamline” the process, but declined to give a date.
Several countries have already requested reserves of monulpiravir, such as France –50,000 doses- and especially the United States –1.7 million doses.
The American order gives an idea of the high price of this drug: it represents US$ 1.2 billion, in other words, approximately US$ 700 per dose.
On the other hand, Pfizer, which at the moment only mentions an authorization request in the United States, did not detail the price of paxlovid, promising that it would be “affordable” and differentiated according to the countries and their level of development.
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