These questions still need to be answered under the screen of oral anti-coronavirus drugs

Recently, Pfizer announced that it has sought emergency use authorization for the oral antiviral therapy Paxlovid from the US FDA for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19

Oral antiviral drugs are the latest tool in the "toolbox" of fighting the epidemic

Oral antiviral drugs can be taken directly at home, which provides convenience for patients to take drugs quickly and reduces the pressure on medical resources

Paxlovid and molnupiravir, which are currently receiving attention, have shown their efficacy in significantly reducing the risk of hospitalization or death in patients with new crowns in clinical trials

Molnupiravir is a nucleoside analogue.

Paxlovid works by inhibiting the 3CL protease of the new coronavirus

▲Different stages of the new coronavirus replication cycle, Paxlovid targeted protease cleavage step (step 5 in the figure), molnupiravir targeted RNA replication and translation (step 6 in the figure) (picture source: reference [6])

The rapid development of these two oral antiviral drugs is expected to provide new tools for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

For example, will the widespread use of oral anti-coronavirus drugs lead to the rapid emergence of drug resistance and make them lose their effect soon? The emergence of drug resistance is no stranger to us.

Unlike antiviral therapies for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis B viruses, oral anti-coronavirus drugs do not need to be taken for a long time.

One of the main ways to solve drug resistance is to use "cocktail" combination therapy

Whether the combination of Molnupiravir and Paxlovid can bring better results still needs to be verified by clinical trials

When it comes to side effects, if you want to use these oral therapies in a wide range of people, their safety needs to be strictly verified

At present, the efficacy of these two oral antiviral therapies has only been evaluated in people who have not received the new crown vaccine, so can they be used to treat patients who have a breakthrough infection after receiving the new crown vaccine?

Theoretically, oral antiviral therapy can reduce the level of the new coronavirus in the body and have an effect on preventing the aggravation of the disease

However, oral antiviral therapy provides more means and strategies to control the epidemic

However, one of the keys to the efficacy of oral antiviral therapy is to use it in the early stage of the patient's viral infection

The early end of the new crown epidemic is a process that requires multi-faceted collaboration

Note: The original text has been deleted

Reference materials:

[1] 8 lingering questions about the new Covid pills from Merck and Pfizer.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// -covid-pills-from-merck-and-pfizer/

[2] PFIZER SEEKS EMERGENCY USE AUTHORIZATION FOR NOVEL COVID-19 ORAL ANTIVIRAL CANDIDATE.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// emergency-use-authorization-novel-covid-19

[3] PFIZER AND THE MEDICINES PATENT POOL (MPP) SIGN LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR COVID-19 ORAL ANTIVIRAL TREATMENT CANDIDATE TO EXPAND ACCESS IN LOW- AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-medicines-patent-pool-mpp-sign-licensing

[4] COVID antiviral pills: what scientists still want to know.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https:// Guidelines for the Use of Antiretroviral Agents in Adults and Adolescents Living with HIV.
Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://clinicalinfo.
hiv.
gov/en/guidelines/adult-and-adolescent-arv/what-start -initial-combination-regimens-antiretroviral-naive

[5] Merck's Antiviral Could Be Just What Covid Was Waiting For.
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