Antiviral treatments to be taken orally soon will they be able to fight against the Covid-19 ? While so far, no antiviral treatment has really been able to be added to the arsenal of the fight against the epidemic, a passage of the opinion of the Scientific Council made public Thursday, October 7 gives a little hope.
Entitled “Active oral antivirals: a possible arrival by the end of the year”, an entire chapter is devoted to two treatments which could arrive in the coming months in France. Here is what we know, for now.
Read also: Covid-19. Health pass, treatments… The ten key points of the last opinion of the Scientific Council
What treatments are we talking about?
In its opinion, the scientific council evokes the track of two antiviral treatments that is to say of treatments which fight against the proliferation of the virus.
The first is molnupiravir. This oral medication is developed by the Merck laboratory. “Its results are quite promising, showing a reduction in mortality and the need for hospitalization (- 50%) when molnupiravir is given early (less than 5 days after the onset of symptoms) in subjects at risk not -vaccinated “, notes the scientific council.
Read also: Coronavirus. Is molnupiravir the first anti-covid pill on the market?
The second antiviral treatment is the protease inhibitor. Developed by Pfizer, this antiviral is also administered orally. While data on its effectiveness is expected in November, “The potential interest of this molecule is that it is possibly active against the various current or future variants since it does not act on the Spike protein”, notes the scientific council.
Why are these treatments eagerly awaited?
From the start of the epidemic, a lot of research into antiviral treatments was carried out. Corn “Antiviral treatments directly directed against SARS-CoV-2 have so far had little impact on overall management due to the absence of effective molecules”, points out the scientific council.
the remdesivir, an antiviral developed by the American laboratory Gilead, for example has long been considered very promising against the coronavirus. But its effectiveness was ultimately highly disputed. Thereby, in November 2020, the WHO estimated that there was “Currently no proof that it improves survival or that it avoids being placed on artificial ventilation”.
Only monoclonal antibodies, alone or in combination, have made it possible to avoid serious forms if they are administered quickly. Corn “In practice, this is difficult because they are administered in injectable form”, notes the scientific council. The advantage of the two antiviral treatments mentioned is that they are oral, and therefore easy to take.
Having an effective antiviral would therefore constitute a great advance in the fight against the coronavirus because it would make it possible to have a complementary treatment of vaccines.
When can we expect these new treatments?
Both antiviral treatments could arrive fairly soon. The scientific council in fact evokes a “Arrival possible in December 2021”. For this, the laboratories would have to submit an application and this would have to be accepted by the French and / or European health agencies. At European level, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be responsible for studying these requests. At the French level, the agency concerned is the National Medicines Safety Agency (ANSM).
If agreed, these drugs would arrive in the heart of winter, at a time when the epidemic could be a little larger than today. due to falling temperatures.
Scientists add that this arrival could “To change the situation and allow the implementation, alongside vaccination, of a” Test & Treat “strategy [Tester et tracer]or even primary prevention. This strategy could be used in particular in unvaccinated patients, in poor responders to vaccines and in certain areas where the overall level of vaccination remains low ”, rejoice the members of the scientific council.
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