An oral pill for Covid-19, which boosts the recovery speed in Covid-19 patients, does not reduce their likelihood of needing hospital care or dying, new research has said.
The new research published in the Lancet has found that the pill does not reduce the risk of hospitalisation or death in vaccinated, high-risk people faced with the Omicron variant, reported The Guardian.
The UK in November 2021, approved molnupiravir for Covid, which can be taken twice a day at home – given to patients through the Panoramic (Platform Adaptive trial of NOvel antiviRals for eArly treatMent of Covid-19 In the Community) trial. It became the first country in the world to do so.
According to The Guardian, the earlier study suggested that the antiviral halved the risk of hospitalisation or death among unvaccinated high-risk patients. But shortly after it was approved, further work was conducted when the Delta variant dominated, and it suggested the drug had a smaller effect than first thought.
Prof Chris Butler, of the University of Oxford and co-chief investigator of the trial, earlier said there might still be circumstances in which the antiviral might be helpful like in helping key workers get back to work quicker if systems are under high pressure.
However, he said, “That’s a complex political decision which needs to be made, given the circumstances at the time.”
The New Research
Adults in the UK were eligible for the trial if they tested positive for Covid either by PCR or lateral flow test, were sick in the community and were either aged 50 or above or over the age of 18 with a health condition that made them vulnerable to Covid, the report said.
The research team recruited over 25,700 eligible participants, 94% of whom had received at least three doses of a Covid vaccine in between the period of 8 December 2021 and 27 April 2022.
Half of the participants were randomly allocated to receive usual daily care, while half were provided with a five-day course of molnupiravir.
The Results
After a 28-day follow-up period, the results reveal that both groups experienced a similar rate of hospitalisations or deaths.
98 of the 12,525 participants, who received usual care, and for whom such data were available, were compared with 105 of 12,529 participants who were also given molnupiravir.
Participants given molnupiravir reported a median recovery time of nine days compared with 15 days for those only receiving usual care, with further analysis showing molnupiravir sped up recovery by 4.2 days on average.
Prof Martin Landray of University of Oxford, who was not involved in the trial, noted participants were aware if they were taking the antiviral.
“Whilst this knowledge wouldn’t influence the hospital admission or death, we have no way of knowing if or to what extent it might bias the findings on self-reported symptomatic outcomes,” he said.
The cost-effectiveness of molnupiravir and any impact on long Covid has yet to be analysed.