The antiviral pills Paxlovid and Molnupiravir, created to combat mild and moderate covid-19 disease, obtained authorization for use in the United States, Mexico and Europe in the last month. This treatment promises to combat the virus from the beginning of the contagion and avoid up to 88% of hospitalizations.
“These two medicines come to fill an important niche, for which until now we had nothing. They are those patients diagnosed in primary care, who do not have the criteria to be hospitalized, but who, due to their profile, fear that the course of the disease may later progress to very serious forms and even death,” he explained to the newspaper El País, Santiago. Moreno, head of infectious diseases at the Ramón y Cajal Hospital in Madrid.
These treatments, developed by Pfizer and Merck Sharp & Dhome, are not intended to replace vaccines, rather they are a complement that will help patients from the onset of the disease. However, although the final costs are not known, in the United States an amount between 530 and 700 dollars, respectively, is estimated.
In Mexico, the authorities announced that they have already begun the purchase efforts to guarantee access to the entire population, but at the moment they have not completed the sale privately.
“A purchase of medicines for the public sector has already been ordered and the possibility that it can be sold in pharmacies. That is going to be analyzed, because we want the people’s right to health to be maintained and delivered free of charge,” he commented, “said the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In Spain, the purchase of these medicines also began, but according to the authorities, they will be destined for patients who are at risk of developing the disease in a serious way.
The benefits
As detailed by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States (FDA, for its acronym in English), Paxlovid, created by Pfizer, is recommended in people over 12 years of age who weigh at least 40 kilos and have a high risk of developing the disease. disease seriously. Studies of this drug have shown an 89% reduction in the risk of hospitalization or death.
This treatment interrupts the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the body, by binding to the 3CL-like protease, an enzyme crucial for the function and reproduction of the virus. To achieve this, the person takes three pills, twice a day for five days, according to the FDA.
Molnupiravir, from Merck, is recommended for people over 18 years of age. “It acts by introducing errors into the genetic code of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which prevents the virus from continuing to replicate,” indicates the US Administration. The patient must take four 200-milligram capsules every 12 hours for five days. This cocktail of pills manages to reduce by half the cases that require hospitalization and deaths.
WHO adds two new treatments
In January, the World Health Organization (WHO) added two new treatments against severe covid-19 disease: baricitinib and sotrovimab. The first is an anti-inflammatory, used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, which is recommended in combination with corticosteroids. Increases the probability of surviving covid-19 and reduces the need for mechanical ventilation.
Sotrovimab is a new monoclonal antibody that has been tested to treat patients at moderate to severe risk of developing COVID-19. It has been used in the United Kingdom for months, where it has shown benefits.
The WHO experts They say that if given quickly, after symptoms develop, it should help prevent people from getting seriously ill. There are indications that it is also effective against the omicron variant.
These recommendations are based on new evidence from seven clinical trials involving more than 4,000 patients with mild, severe and critical COVID-19 infection.
“The authorization of the two new drugs adds to previous recommendations on the use of interleukin 6 inhibitors and systemic corticosteroids for patients with severe or critical covid-19; conditional recommendations on the use of casirivimab-imdevimab in certain patients; and the rejection of the use of convalescent plasma, ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine in patients with covid-19, regardless of its severity, ”says the WHO.
