The new crown outbreak was approved less than two years ago!

On November 4, local time, Merck & Co.

It usually takes more than ten years for new drug development to be approved for marketing from the beginning to the end

Before the outbreak of the new crown, the research team at Emory University was studying the predecessor of molnupiravir

In 2015, Professor George Painter, head of the Emory Pharmaceutical Innovations (DRIVE) company under Emory University, handed it over to a partner, Dr.

This compound is a nucleoside analog.

▲The mechanism of action of Molnupiravir (picture source: reference [4])

After the emergence of the new crown epidemic, the research team quickly shifted the focus of research and development to the development of antiviral drugs that inhibit the replication of the new crown virus.

However, when the paper was published, there was no test result of EIDD-2801 in humans

Merck and Ridgeback reached a cooperation in May 2020 to jointly promote the clinical development of molnupiravir.

The results of the interim analysis of this phase 3 clinical trial showed that among patients with mild or moderate new coronary disease, the proportion of hospitalizations for patients treated with molnupiravir was about 7.

The approval of Molnupiravir provides a new weapon in the fight against the epidemic in addition to the new crown vaccine, neutralizing antibody and other new crown therapies

Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, the rapid advent of new crown vaccines, neutralizing antibodies, and small molecule drugs have effectively curbed the expansion of the epidemic

Reference materials:

[1] Merck and Ridgeback's Molnupiravir, an Oral COVID-19 Antiviral Medicine, Receives First Authorization in the World.