Merck’s oral antiviral treatment for Covid-19, molnupiravir, has reportedly shown potential efficacy on the variants of the Covid-19 virus, causing Korean companies to speed up efforts to develop similar oral medicines.
Merck, or MSD in the U.S. and Canada, said Wednesday its experimental Covid-19 therapy demonstrated efficacy against variants, including the dominant Delta strain.
“As molnupiravir does not target the spike protein of Covid-19 virus, which currently defines the differences between the variants, the drug will likely show similar efficacy even in evolved virus,” said Jay Grobler, head of infectious disease and vaccines at Merck.
Aside from Merck’s progress in developing oral Covid-19 treatment, another global pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, also said it entered phase 2 and 3 EPIC-PEP (Evaluation of Protease Inhibition for Covid-19 in Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) study of its oral antiviral candidate PF-07321332, co-administered with a low dose of ritonavir, for Covid-19.
The global study will evaluate how effectively PF-07321332 prevents Covid-19 infection in people above 18 who live under the same roof with a confirmed symptomatic Covid-19 patient.
“Given the continued emergence and evolution of Covid-19 variants and their immense impact, we continue to develop and study new ways that our investigational drug candidate could potentially lower the impact of Covid-19, not only on patients’ lives but also on the lives of their families and household members,” Pfizer CSO Mikael Dolsten said.
Stimulated by active global developments of oral Covid-19 treatments, Korean companies are also trying hard to develop similar drugs.
GeneOne Life Science said Friday that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the company to begin phase 2 clinical trials of its Covid-19 oral drug candidate GLS-1027, globally introduced as Zenuzolac, on Sept. 9. GLS-1027 inhibits cytokines that cause inflammation.
The company also said it confirmed the substance to be effective in suppressing infections against variants.
With the recent approval, GeneOne Life Science will conduct an additional trial at Korea University Guro Hospital in addition to ongoing global studies in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the Republic of North Macedonia.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical also confirmed a statistically significant outcome as its investigational candidate, Coviblock (ingredient: camostat), halved the recovering period of mild Covid-19 patients over 50 in the second stage of phase clinical trial. However, the company plans to conduct phase 3 clinical trials of the drug candidate as it has not yet shown statistically significant improvement in symptoms among all patients,
Shinpoong Pharm began enrolling more than 1,000 patients to conduct phase 3 clinical trials of oral Covid-19 therapy after receiving approval from the food and drug ministry on Aug. 30. The company plans to conduct additional global clinical trials in Europe and Latin America with the ongoing study in the Philippines.
Shinpoong Pharm’s drug candidate, Pyramax (ingredient: pyronaridine and artesunate), was originally developed for malaria treatment. However, the company aims to develop it as Covid-19 therapy through drug repurposing.
“If the efficacy and safety of Pyramax can be confirmed in phase 3 clinical trials, it will be the first oral Covid-19 drug to be developed in Korea,” a Shinpoong Pharm official said. “Pyramax can be supplied to various countries for Covid-19 once it gets approval as it already has been authorized as an antimalarial agent.”
CNpharm is also developing CP-COV03, a niclosamide-based oral treatment for Covid-19. Niclosamide is effective against various viral diseases and refractory diseases, including the Covid-19, as also considered the top candidate for drug repurposing for Covid-19 treatment.
A company official said, “We will submit an application to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for conducting clinical trials of CP-COV03 soon.”