TY - JOUR
T1 - Oral Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir Therapy for COVID-19
T2 - The Dawn in the Dark?
AU - Hung, Yuan Pin
AU - Lee, Jen Chieh
AU - Chiu, Chun Wei
AU - Lee, Ching Chi
AU - Tsai, Pei Jane
AU - Hsu, I. Lin
AU - Ko, Wen Chien
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: The present study was supported by research grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 109-2327-B-006-005, MOST 109-2634-F-006-023 and MOST 110-2314-B-006-068); Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan, (MOHW 110-TDU-B-211-124003); and National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Tainan, Taiwan (NCKUH-11004029).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid™) is an effective and safe antiviral drug that inhibits the main protease (Mpro), 3CL protease, of SARS-CoV-2. A reduction in COVID-19-related hospitalization or death was observed in patients treated with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir within five days of symptom onset. Moreover, good oral availability enables the usage of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, not only in hospitalized patients, but also among outpatients. Nirmatrelvir (PF-07321332) has been demonstrated to stop the spread of COVID-19 in animal models. Despite frequent mutations in the viral genomes of SARS-CoV-2, nirmatrelvir shows an effective antiviral effect against recent coronavirus mutants. Despite the promising antiviral effect of nirmatrelvir, there are several unresolved concerns. First, the final results of large-scale clinical trials for early therapy of mild cases of COVID-19 are not yet published. Second, the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir against upcoming variants in the coming years requires close monitoring. Considering the promising preliminary results of the EPIC-HR trial, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in conjunction with vaccines and non-pharmacological interventions, may represent the dawn in the dark of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid™) is an effective and safe antiviral drug that inhibits the main protease (Mpro), 3CL protease, of SARS-CoV-2. A reduction in COVID-19-related hospitalization or death was observed in patients treated with nirmatrelvir/ritonavir within five days of symptom onset. Moreover, good oral availability enables the usage of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, not only in hospitalized patients, but also among outpatients. Nirmatrelvir (PF-07321332) has been demonstrated to stop the spread of COVID-19 in animal models. Despite frequent mutations in the viral genomes of SARS-CoV-2, nirmatrelvir shows an effective antiviral effect against recent coronavirus mutants. Despite the promising antiviral effect of nirmatrelvir, there are several unresolved concerns. First, the final results of large-scale clinical trials for early therapy of mild cases of COVID-19 are not yet published. Second, the effectiveness of nirmatrelvir against upcoming variants in the coming years requires close monitoring. Considering the promising preliminary results of the EPIC-HR trial, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir in conjunction with vaccines and non-pharmacological interventions, may represent the dawn in the dark of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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U2 - 10.3390/antibiotics11020220
DO - 10.3390/antibiotics11020220
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85125580274
SN - 2079-6382
VL - 11
JO - Antibiotics
JF - Antibiotics
IS - 2
M1 - 220
ER -