TREATMENT for people who have contracted SARS-CoV-2 has come a long way in the past 12 months, but new medications are still needed.
The oral antiviral MK-4482 effectively reduced the impact on the lungs of SARS-CoV-2 infections in a very small trial in hamsters.
With human trials ongoing, the research raises hope for an effective, easy-to-take Covid-19 medication.
While vaccinations reduce the incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections, there is still a need for drugs that can treat people who have contracted the virus.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recommended two drugs to treat Covid-19: the steroid dexamethasone and the antiviral drug Remdesivir.
Doctors limit the use of dexamethasone to severe disease, where trials have shown it to reduce mortality in mechanically ventilated patients by a third.
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Remdesivir canTrusted Source decrease the length of time a person has Covid-19 and does provide some benefit to some people, but it has little effect on its own. Remdesivir also requires intravenous administration, which lessens its clinical use.
Researchers with the NIH have found that the oral antiviral drug MK-4482 effectively fights SARS-CoV-2 infections in hamsters.
MK-4482, which scientists are now testing in human clinical trials, reduced the level of SARS-CoV-2 replication and disease damage in the lungs of hamsters. The researchers administered MK-4482 orally.
If trials can confirm the therapeutic value of MK-4482 in humans, it will be the first drug for SARS-CoV-2 that people can take orally in the community.
Scientists initially developed MK-4482 as an anti-influenza drug by the Drug Innovation Ventures group of Emory University in Atlanta, GA, with funding support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The original names for MK-4482 were molnupiravir and EIDD-2801.
When scientists hydrolyze MK-4482, the resulting compound is EIDD-1931, originally developed at the beginning of this century for treating hepatitis C.
