Filenews 18 July 2022
- New evidence in the light from further analysis of the findings of the MOVe-OUT clinical trial
- Msd's antiviral drug was administered to more than 8500 patients in Cyprus
New encouraging data, in relation to the benefits of the antiviral drug Lagevrio (molnupiravir), against covid 19, emerge through further analysis of the findings of the randomized and placebo-controlled clinical trial MOVe-OUT.
The researchers, who made the relevant publication in the American medical journal "Annals of Internal Medicine", found that the administration of the treatment (800 mg every 12 hours, for five days) to 1,433 non-hospitalized patients over 18 years of age, compared to placebo, led to faster rehabilitation of biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), to fewer respiratory interventions and to a lower need for short-term care of non-hospitalized patients with coronavirus.
Interesting data also emerge regarding the hospitalized patients who received the drug. According to the research, the need for respiratory interventions was also reduced in hospitalized patients, while they were discharged, on average, three days before those who had taken the placebo. Based on the above, the researchers concluded that Lagevrio has benefits for patients, but also for health systems, beyond those that have already become known, as the days of hospitalization are reduced.
Powerful weapons
The introduction of antiviral drugs against covid 19 in the therapeutic arsenal of doctors is, according to the scientific world, another weapon for the treatment of the disease and especially the reduction of hospitalizations. In our country, msd's Lagevrio was first released since mid-January. This is an oral treatment against COVID-19 which, as it is known, is administered on the basis of protocol to designated categories of patients who are at high risk of severe illness from coronavirus and is prescribed by personal doctors and by specific medical specialties, in the first five days from diagnosis.
In the six months that it is available on the Cyprus market, the drug has been prescribed to more than 8,500 patients. So far no death has been recorded after the administration of the drug and no serious side effects from its use have been reported. Of the patients who received the drug, less than 5% of the hospitalization was needed.
Dr. Nicoletta Konstantinou Kouspi, a specialist pathologist, described oral antiviral treatments for the treatment of COVID 19 as very powerful weapons as, as she said, they seem, in combination with vaccines, to reduce severe illness, and consequently hospitalizations. Regarding Lagevrio, which has been in the doctors' quiver since mid-January, he said: "So far I have prescribed this preparation to more than 50 patients, based on the protocol. The drug was well tolerated by everyone, no one declared side effects and no one had to be hospitalized. Of course, the majority of patients were also vaccinated."
