antiviral news

MSD said on April 16 that it has filed a smaller easier-to-swallow tablet version of its oral COVID-19 treatment Lagevrio (molnupiravir) in Japan.

Use of the antiviral was linked to a significant decline in in-hospital death at both 14 and 28 days, regardless of variant of concern.

To reveal the mechanism of action of these drugs, scientists have applied massive sequencing methods on the viruses resulting after treatment. Esteban Domingo, CSIC researcher at the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CBM-CSIC-UAM), highlights that in this way they have identified that “these drugs manage to collapse the replication of the virus by inducing an excess of mutations in its genome that affect the viral viability. This mechanism, called “lethal mutagenesis,” is a broad-spectrum antiviral strategy that has already been successfully applied with other highly variable RNA viruses.

Gilead Sciences has announced that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Veklury (remdesivir) to treat COVID-19 in vulnerable adults and children. The new final draft guidance marks Veklury as the first antiviral to be recommended by NICE to treat eligible children, including those with a high risk of serious illness from COVID-19. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that continues to cause thousands of hospital admissions in England. Certain groups of people are vulnerable to COVID-19 as they are at higher risk of getting seriously ill, including those with certain types of cancer, autoimmune or inflammatory conditions and severe kidney or liver disease.

UK health technology assessor the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published final draft guidance recommending use of remdesivir for treating COVID-19 in eligible adults and children.

A collaboration between the University of Tasmania and Royal Hobart Hospital Pathology has revealed the consequences of using molnupiravir to treat COVID-19.