Experimental Antiviral Drug, MK-4482 Shows Potential Against Covid-19

A new study has found that an experimental antiviral drug, MK-4482, decreased levels of virus and disease damage in the lungs of hamsters treated for Covid infection.

Ever since the Covid pandemic began, experts have worked tirelessly to come up with a treatment to bring down the effects of the coronavirus. They have been experimenting with the existing drugs and see if they can work against the deadly disease. In a breakthrough, scientists have found that an experimental oral antiviral drug called MK-4482 may be able to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

It decreased the levels of the virus and disease damage in the lungs of hamsters treated for the coronavirus infection, according to the study published in the journal Nature Communications. MK-4482 is currently undergoing human clinical trials. As per the small clinical study, the researchers found that MK-4482 treatment is effective when given up to 12 hours before or after the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Here's How This Antiviral Drug May Mitigate High-Risk Of Covid

As per the study from the US National Institutes of Health scientists, MK-4482 treatment potentially could reduce high-risk exposure to the coronavirus and might even treat the infection alone or possibly in combination with other agents.

For the study, they divided the subjects into three groups: a pre-infection treatment group; a post-infection treatment group; and an untreated control group. Each group was administered the antiviral drug orally every 12 hours for three days. After the study, they found that animals in the treatment groups showed 100 times less infectious virus in their lungs than in the control group. The hamsters in the treatment groups also showed fewer lesions in the lungs than the control group. At the end of the study, they found that MK-4482 was effective at stopping the viruses from duplicating.

Drug That Treats Influenza

MK-4482 is a medication being developed by the biotechnology firm Ridgeback Biotherapeutics in collaboration with Merck as a potential Covid-19 treatment. Developed by Emory University's Drug Innovation Ventures group in Atlanta, MK-4482, also called molnupiravir and EIDD-2801, is used to treat influenza.

Only Remdesivir Has Been Approved To Treat Covid-19

So far, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved only one medication called Remdesivir to treat Covid-19. It has been approved to treat Covid-19 in adults and children who are 12 and older. Some other drugs have also been approved but for emergency use, which includes rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib. Many other drugs including favipiravr, merimepodib and more are being tested against the coronavirus.

With Covid-19 cases constantly causing illness and death worldwide, better treatments are needed to mitigate its risk. In India, the total cases of Covid-19 have reached 1,47,88,109 with a record single-day rise of 2,61,500 coronavirus infections. With the worsening situation across the world, there is a dire need to come up with more drugs to reduce the risk of coronavirus, if not eliminate it.

(with inputs from IANS)