Antiviral COVID drug suspected of creating further variants

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
26 Sep 2023 13:16

A new study raises concerns that the antiviral drug Molnupiravir could be accelerating the evolution of COVID-19 variants.

A woman walks in front of graffiti, made by football fans near AEK's under-construction football stadium in Athens, Greece, on April 8, 2020 (AP)

Experts are concerned that an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19 patients is accelerating the virus' mutations, thus leading to new variants.

The drug in question is Molnupiravir, which is sold under the brand name Lagevrio. It is meant to mutate coronavirus to destruction; however, scientists have revealed that the virus can survive the drug, which will lead to mutated versions that could infect others.

The researchers argue that there is no evidence that the treatment has led to dangerous variants. Nonetheless, it has expanded the genetic diversity of the virus and provided more options for further evolution.

"People have some concerns about Molnupiravir and to some sense, this (the research) makes those more concrete," said the lead researcher on the study, Dr. Theo Sanderson, a postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London.

The research's results will help in further understanding the risks and benefits of Molnupiravir and other similar drugs, according to the experts.

Initially, researchers became aware of this phenomenon when they conducted a thorough examination of global databases containing over 15 million COVID-19 genomes. They identified characteristic mutations in viruses that surfaced after the introduction of Molnupiravir.

Scientists found that the drug, in mutating the virus' RNA, led to an increase in specific mutations at certain regions of the genetic code.

Further analysis revealed that signature mutations were particularly common in viruses from older patients, who were more likely to receive treatment with Molnupiravir.

While the signature mutations are clear, they have not led to the emergence of widely circulating variants associated with Molnupiravir. Most mutations in the virus are typically expected to weaken it rather than increase its danger.

Scientists are now eager to investigate whether these drug-induced mutations may explain unusual findings from Oxford University's Panoramic trial.

In that trial, experts assessed the effectiveness of several COVID-19 antivirals, noting a reduction in virus levels in the first week of Molnupiravir treatments, followed by a subsequent rise in the following two weeks. It is possible that this pattern can be attributed to the drug initially suppressing the virus but subsequently generating mutated versions better equipped to evade the immune defenses of patients, according to The Guardian.

Merck & Co. (MSD), the US-based multinational pharmaceutical company that produces Molnupiravir, maintains that the drug inhibits viral replication and reduces viral transmission.