The COVID pill
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https://khn.org/news/article/oral-antiviral-covid-treatment-on-horizon/
Antivirals are already essential treatments for other viral infections, including hepatitis C and HIV. One of the best known is Tamiflu, the widely prescribed pill that can shorten the duration of influenza and reduce the risk of hospitalization if given quickly.
The medications, developed to treat and prevent viral infections in people and animals, work differently depending on the type. But they can be engineered to boost the immune system to fight infection, block receptors so viruses can’t enter healthy cells, or lower the amount of active virus in the body.
At least three promising antivirals for covid are being tested in clinical trials, with results expected as soon as late fall or winter, said Carl Dieffenbach, director of the Division of AIDS at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who is overseeing antiviral development.
“I think that we will have answers as to what these pills are capable of within the next several months,” Dieffenbach said.
The top contender is a medication from Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics called molnupiravir, Dieffenbach said. This is the product being tested in the Kellys’ Seattle trial. Two others include a candidate from Pfizer, known as PF-07321332, and AT-527, an antiviral produced by Roche and Atea Pharmaceuticals.
They work by interfering with the virus’s ability to replicate in human cells. In the case of molnupiravir, the enzyme that copies the viral genetic material is forced to make so many mistakes that the virus can’t reproduce. That, in turn, reduces the patient’s viral load, shortening infection time and preventing the kind of dangerous immune response that can cause serious illness or death.
So far, only one antiviral drug, remdesivir, has been approved to treat covid. But it is given intravenously to patients ill enough to be hospitalized, and is not intended for early, widespread use. By contrast, the top contenders under study can be packaged as pills.
Sheahan, who also performed preclinical work on remdesivir, led an early study in mice that showed that molnupiravir could prevent early disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid. The formula was discovered at Emory University and later acquired by Ridgeback and Merck.
Clinical trials have followed, including an early trial of 202 participants last spring that showed that molnupiravir rapidly reduced the levels of infectious virus. Merck chief executive Robert Davis said this month that the company expects data from its larger phase 3 trials in the coming weeks, with the potential to seek emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration “before year-end.”
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I don't know what's in the pill, but it sounds pretty complicated.
I'm going to need to research this further.
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@george-k said in The COVID pill:
So far, only one antiviral drug, remdesivir, has been approved to treat covid. But it is given intravenously to patients ill enough to be hospitalized, and is not intended for early, widespread use.
And doesn’t work. There’s that part, too…
The Brad
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Approved in the UK
https://news.yahoo.com/uk-authorizes-mercks-covid-pill-103830730.html
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I presided over an alumni event Saturday night, our annual all-class reunion fundraiser. Got to see some folks I haven't for years. I was surprised that they were talking about their stashes of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine and where they were able to get it.
“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” ~Winston S. Churchill
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@george-k said in The COVID pill:
So far, only one antiviral drug, remdesivir, has been approved to treat covid. But it is given intravenously to patients ill enough to be hospitalized, and is not intended for early, widespread use.
And doesn’t work. There’s that part, too…
@lufins-dad said in The COVID pill:
@george-k said in The COVID pill:
So far, only one antiviral drug, remdesivir, has been approved to treat covid. But it is given intravenously to patients ill enough to be hospitalized, and is not intended for early, widespread use.
And doesn’t work. There’s that part, too…
Well, it works occasionally...
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@lufins-dad said in The COVID pill:
@george-k said in The COVID pill:
So far, only one antiviral drug, remdesivir, has been approved to treat covid. But it is given intravenously to patients ill enough to be hospitalized, and is not intended for early, widespread use.
And doesn’t work. There’s that part, too…
Well, it works occasionally...
@jolly said in The COVID pill:
@lufins-dad said in The COVID pill:
@george-k said in The COVID pill:
So far, only one antiviral drug, remdesivir, has been approved to treat covid. But it is given intravenously to patients ill enough to be hospitalized, and is not intended for early, widespread use.
And doesn’t work. There’s that part, too…
Well, it works occasionally...
Have they been able to determine whether that is a result of a treatment or just a coincidental improvement? That’s been the claim on Ivermectin and others…
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Pfizer said Friday that its easy-to-administer Covid-19 pill, used in combination with a widely used HIV drug, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% in high-risk adults who’ve been exposed to the virus.
It’s now the second antiviral pill behind Merck’s to demonstrate strong effectiveness for treating Covid at the first sign of illness. If cleared by regulators, it would likely be a game changer in the ongoing global pandemic fight. Pfizer said it plans to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration “as soon as possible.”
Pfizer’s pill, scientifically known as PF-07321332, is part of a class of medicines called protease inhibitors and works by inhibiting an enzyme the virus needs to replicate in human cells. Protease inhibitors are used to treat other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C.
The HIV drug helps slow the metabolism, or breakdown, of Pfizer’s pill in order for it to remain active in the body for longer periods of time at higher concentrations, the company said.
The company said its data on the drug is based on a mid-to-late stage study of 1,219 adults who had at least one underlying medical condition and a laboratory-confirmed infection within a five-day period. Participants were also given a low dose of ritonavir, a medication commonly used in combination treatments for HIV.
Pfizer said there were six hospitalizations and zero deaths out of the 607 trial participants who received the pill in combination with the HIV drug within five days of symptom onset. That compares with 41 hospitalizations and 10 deaths out of the 612 people who received a placebo.
“These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.
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@xenon said in The COVID pill:
Cuts risk of hospitalization and death by 90%!
That sounds huge.
Fuck that, how do we politicize this?
Please love yourself.
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I presided over an alumni event Saturday night, our annual all-class reunion fundraiser. Got to see some folks I haven't for years. I was surprised that they were talking about their stashes of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine and where they were able to get it.
@mik said in The COVID pill:
they were talking about their stashes of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine and where they were able to get it.
( i know this is kind of a stereo type, so I apologize in advance)
But, it seems that people who do not trust the COVID vaccines because they are "unproven" seem willing to embrace equally unproven treatments like ivermectin and hydroxycholoroquine.
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@xenon said in The COVID pill:
Cuts risk of hospitalization and death by 90%!
That sounds huge.
Fuck that, how do we politicize this?
@aqua-letifer said in The COVID pill:
@xenon said in The COVID pill:
Cuts risk of hospitalization and death by 90%!
That sounds huge.
Fuck that, how do we politicize this?
Well, since it seems that we now have a treatment as effective as the vaccine, why are we pushing vaccine mandates, huh? That’s right… Because it ain’t about stopping COVID…
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@aqua-letifer said in The COVID pill:
@xenon said in The COVID pill:
Cuts risk of hospitalization and death by 90%!
That sounds huge.
Fuck that, how do we politicize this?
Well, since it seems that we now have a treatment as effective as the vaccine, why are we pushing vaccine mandates, huh? That’s right… Because it ain’t about stopping COVID…
@lufins-dad said in The COVID pill:
@aqua-letifer said in The COVID pill:
@xenon said in The COVID pill:
Cuts risk of hospitalization and death by 90%!
That sounds huge.
Fuck that, how do we politicize this?
Well, since it seems that we now have a treatment as effective as the vaccine, why are we pushing vaccine mandates, huh? That’s right… Because it ain’t about stopping COVID…
Hasn't been for awhile...
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@lufins-dad said in The COVID pill:
@aqua-letifer said in The COVID pill:
@xenon said in The COVID pill:
Cuts risk of hospitalization and death by 90%!
That sounds huge.
Fuck that, how do we politicize this?
Well, since it seems that we now have a treatment as effective as the vaccine, why are we pushing vaccine mandates, huh? That’s right… Because it ain’t about stopping COVID…
Hasn't been for awhile...
@jolly said in The COVID pill:
@lufins-dad said in The COVID pill:
@aqua-letifer said in The COVID pill:
@xenon said in The COVID pill:
Cuts risk of hospitalization and death by 90%!
That sounds huge.
Fuck that, how do we politicize this?
Well, since it seems that we now have a treatment as effective as the vaccine, why are we pushing vaccine mandates, huh? That’s right… Because it ain’t about stopping COVID…
Hasn't been for awhile...
I did it! What do I win!
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yea absolutely its all about purposely infringing freedoms...
makes sense.BTW i would take a RNA vaccine anyday over an experimental antiviral drug called PF-07321332.
at least I know the working part of vaccine is gone within 5 days and all the effect is done by the innate immune system
antivirals, as a class of drugs, are really weird. avoid if possible. and to say better to stop pushing vaccines when we have a drug to treat...is akin to saying, dont worry about getting a mammogram, we have herceptin.
crazy idea -
yea absolutely its all about purposely infringing freedoms...
makes sense.BTW i would take a RNA vaccine anyday over an experimental antiviral drug called PF-07321332.
at least I know the working part of vaccine is gone within 5 days and all the effect is done by the innate immune system
antivirals, as a class of drugs, are really weird. avoid if possible. and to say better to stop pushing vaccines when we have a drug to treat...is akin to saying, dont worry about getting a mammogram, we have herceptin.
crazy idea@bachophile said in The COVID pill:
yea absolutely its all about purposely infringing freedoms...
makes sense.BTW i would take a RNA vaccine anyday over an experimental antiviral drug called PF-07321332.
at least I know the working part of vaccine is gone within 5 days and all the effect is done by the innate immune system
antivirals, as a class of drugs, are really weird. avoid if possible. and to say better to stop pushing vaccines when we have a drug to treat...is akin to saying, dont worry about getting a mammogram, we have herceptin.
crazy ideaI have not been able to understand for the life of me why people that don’t want to take the vaccines are so excited Omer monoclonal antibodies?
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@bachophile said in The COVID pill:
yea absolutely its all about purposely infringing freedoms...
makes sense.BTW i would take a RNA vaccine anyday over an experimental antiviral drug called PF-07321332.
at least I know the working part of vaccine is gone within 5 days and all the effect is done by the innate immune system
antivirals, as a class of drugs, are really weird. avoid if possible. and to say better to stop pushing vaccines when we have a drug to treat...is akin to saying, dont worry about getting a mammogram, we have herceptin.
crazy ideaI have not been able to understand for the life of me why people that don’t want to take the vaccines are so excited Omer monoclonal antibodies?
@lufins-dad me neither
