News Forum - Britain the first to approve Covid-19 antiviral pill Molnupiravir

[Thaiger]

Molnupiravir, the antiviral pill that fights Covid-19, has just been approved for use in Britain, the first country in the world to do so. The pill was developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and has been shown to reduce the severity of symptoms in patients infected with Covid-19. The drug is recommended to be used as soon as possible after a Covid-19 diagnosis, at least within 5 days of when symptoms begin. This is different from other antiviral pill options like Remdesivir and generic steroid dexamethasone, as those are given to hospitalized patients only as opposed to being used for immediate […]

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[Dedinbed]

5 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Molnupiravir,

Who the f*ck thinks up the names of some of these drugs ..

[Bluesofa]

5 hours ago, Dedinbed said:

Who the f*ck thinks up the names of some of these drugs ..

Someone who was under the influence of them at the time. Probably took a hundred attempts to get that name.
I think the monkeys at the typewriter theory would have found an easier name.

[palooka]

A little light at the end of a dark tunnel hopefully.

[gummy]

Just now, palooka said:

A little light at the end of a dark tunnel hopefully.

The real cracker would be to develop an anti covid chemical that could be added to water supplies such as they did with fluoride as an example. That way it would inconvenience no one and provide a level of protection for the majority. The crooks flogging crap PPE I guess may not like it nor the religious sects who bang their drums saying it is God's will if we contract a particularly nasty virulent disease but for the rest of the world I can only see a benefit if science could develop such a thing.

[palooka]

Good idea, needs expanding for 3rd world though, no water supplies and lots not have bottled water either.

[Stonker]

Paxlovid, from Pfizer, recently approved by the US FDA, reportedly has an efficacy of a staggering 89% against death or hospitalisation:

 

"...  just 0.8 per cent of patients (three of 389 people) given the new pill within three days of showing symptoms were hospitalised, and none had died by 28 days after treatment.

For the placebo group, by contrast, 7 per cent were hospitalised (27 of 385 people), and seven died.

Results were similar for patients who took the pill five days after getting symptoms."

That could be the biggest game changer yet.

 

[Malc-Thai]

On 11/5/2021 at 7:32 AM, gummy said:

The real cracker would be to develop an anti covid chemical that could be added to water supplies such as they did with fluoride as an example. That way it would inconvenience no one and provide a level of protection for the majority. The crooks flogging crap PPE I guess may not like it nor the religious sects who bang their drums saying it is God's will if we contract a particularly nasty virulent disease but for the rest of the world I can only see a benefit if science could develop such a thing.

Better to put it in beer! 

The more you drink the more you're protected in a nasty covid environment

[Stonker]

If Paxlovid's real world results are as good, with no side effects, and it can be produced in quantity and reasonably cheaply then job jobbed, world-wide.

 

[Saltire]

I am going to take this one as very good news.

Despite the obvious reduced testiing and associated increased risks, it looks to me like one of the big pharmas will come up with a working product soon. In the past you'd see on the news about some medical breakthrough and the report would always end with something like "and XXX is expected to be available to sufferers in 5/10/15 years".

Desperate times call for fast solutions and in a way I am glad Covid has short-circuited much of the red tape in medicine and vaccine developments. I am sure there are many in the pipeline we don't know of yet. This pandemic has led to several breakthroughs in the science, for example the advances in mRNA technology.

If someone is successful in producing a drug which cures or even prevents viral infections perhaps all these vaccines can be rendered redundant.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Saltire