imagine if there was a pill you could take to treat covid before covid causes pneumonia and low
oxygen levels could an antiviral medication called Molnupiravir eliminate SARS-CoV2 from an infected
person's nose and throat this oral medication which is taken twice a day for five days
was initially developed for the treatment of influenza Molnupiravir seems to also be
effective against SARS-CoV2 there is a phase two a study that was recently done
it enrolled 202 non-hospitalized adults with signs and symptoms of covid 19 and confirmed infection at
baseline 42 percent of participants had detectable levels of SARS-CoV2 virus when it was cultured
the study had three arms of the treatment group taking 200 milligrams 400 milligrams
and 800 milligrams of Molnupiravir respectively and there is a control group participants noses were
swabbed on days 3 5 7 14 and day 28. a reduction in SARS-CoV2 was noted in all treatment groups
but was only considered to be significant in the 800 milligram group there's a much larger
phase iii trial underway with 1300 participants Molnupiravir it works by introducing copying
errors when viral rna replicates similar to dna rna is made up of four different nucleosides
in rna there's adenine cytosine guanine and uracil Molnupiravir exists in two forms
in one form it mimics cytosine and in the other form it mimics uracil when sars cov2 grows in
the presence of this drug its rna-dependent rna polymerase the enzyme that reads rna it
reads cytosine as uracil and then puts the wrong nucleoside in that rna sequence this misreading
it creates a massive number of mutations in the viral genome rendering the new rna useless
malnuparaver was originally developed at emory university and was later acquired by miami-based
ridgeback biotherapeutics who later partnered with american company to develop it even further
in april 2020 a whistleblower complaint by former head of barta rick bright expressed
concerns that similar drugs had the potential to damage dna breit notes in his complaint that quote
similar experimental drugs in this class had been shown to cause reproductive toxicity in animals
and offspring from treated animals had been born without teeth and without parts of their skulls
george painter who's ceo of drug innovation ventures at emory he replied to that comment
saying quote we haven't seen robust evidence for any sort of mutagenicity as had been seen
in the past by others in the phase 2a clinical trial seven participants discontinued treatment
the only four experienced adverse events none of which were considered related to Molnupiravir
as of the making of this video the trial is still blinded so what the exact adverse events are still
not known there are also several other anti-viral drugs for covid that are in development
like Upamostat or rhb107 then there's at527 and then Favipiravir and what about covid
prophylactic drugs let's say you're exposed to someone with covid is there a post-exposure
prophylactic drug that you can take in december of 2020 researchers at georgia state university
published a study in nature microbiology that showed that giving Molnupiravir to ferrets
infected with sars cov2 prevented transmission to uninfected ferrets housed in the same cage so
this is great news for ferrets human trials should be coming soon what about another treatment option
for covid 19 that must also be given early in the course of illness monoclonal antibodies sars
cov2 uses a spike protein to attach to the ace2 receptor and then enter human cells monoclonal
antibodies bind to a specific protein surface meaning antigens these monoclonal antibodies
bind to the spike protein of the virus preventing it from invading the human cell when it does this
it also tags it to let the immune cells of the body know that it should destroy it monoclonal
antibodies can be produced by exposing a mouse or hamster to an antigen and antibodies made are then
collected today antibiotics can be made in the lab and are used to treat nearly 100 conditions
including cancer and autoimmune disorders the monoclonal antibodies used to treat covid 19
include regeneron's clone of an antibody harvested from a person who recovered from covid 19 and an
antibody harvested from a genetically modified mouse engineered to have a human immune system
eli lilly's monoclonal antibody Bamlanivamab was identified in a blood sample from a patient who
recovered from covid 19 clinical trials showed that monoclonal antibodies can prevent deaths
and hospitalizations in people with mild to moderate covid 19 who are at risk of severe
disease a study of vir 7831 a product made by vir and gsk reduced the chances of hospitalization or
death by 85 percent a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled phase iii study showed a
cocktail of two antibodies Bamlanivamab and the Etesevimab both made by eli lilly they cut the
risk of hospitalization and death by 87 percent monoclonal antibodies will likely provide the greatest
benefit for those older than 65 and those with a suppressed immune system or a comorbid condition
like obesity heart disease chronic kidney disease or diabetes they've also demonstrated safety and
efficacy in their respective clinical trials but they're not widely used in the united states
why well there's several various reasons for this one besides the cost to produce them they need
to be given through an iv in an infusion center two the results of the clinical trials have been
released and submitted to the fda but some have still not been published in peer-reviewed journals
three there was initially mixed messaging on whether monoclonal antibodies are effective they
are believed to be effective in the early phase of covid 19 but not the late phase since they're
directed towards the spike protein and variants have mutations in the spike protein there's
also a question on whether they're going to be effective against the new sars cov2 variants
so far they seem to be effective against the v117 or the uk variant using a combination or cocktail
of monoclonal antibodies can help ensure that at least one antibody will fight the infection
also they last about three to four months in the human body antibodies made by the body as a result
of the vaccine will they give protection for about a year or so regardless monoclonal antibodies are
an effective stop gap until everyone can be vaccinated so that's going to be all for this
one thank you for watching and if you haven't done so already go ahead and click on subscribe
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