Combining the antiviral drug remdesivir or molnupiravir with the experimental drug brequinar blocks the reproduction of SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 in lung cells. Companies manufacturing critical drugs in India includes, Sun Pharma, Hetro Labs Torrent Pharma, Health Biotech . Remdesivir may be prescribed to Covid-19 patients who are hospitalized and require supplemental oxygen.
Fighting Covid-19 has become the highest priority for the pharmaceutical industry. Hundreds of researchers are working on innovations to identify new ways to defeat SARS-CoV2. Despite the declining test positivity rate (TPR), the emerging strains from different corners of the world have become a matter of concern.
Researchers have found that the combining the antiviral drug remdesivir or molnupiravir with the experimental drug brequinar blocks the reproduction of SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 in lung cells.
In 2020, FDA authorized the emergency use of Remdesevir and Molnupiravir for treating critical Covid-19 patients. The new data from the drug company Gilead shows that Remdesivir could treat patients with critical medical conditions like immunosuppression and ward off diabetes in severe Covid-19 cases. The company developed the first anti-viral drug approved to treat Covid-19.
Recently, it also introduced nasal spray to treat coronavirus patients. Studies conducted in the US show that the spray has the potential to kill 99.9 per cent of SARS-CoV-2’s Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon variants within two minutes.
“Identification of combinations of antivirals is very crucial, not only because it would increase the drugs’ potency against the coronavirus, but the combination would also reduces the risk of resistance,” said Sara Cherry, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, US.
In December last year, when Omicron was creating havoc in the India, the Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya approved 13 companies in India to manufacture critical drugs under emergency situation to treat adult Covid-19 patients.
Some of the companies manufacturing the critical drugs in India include Sun Pharma, Hetro Labs, Torrent Pharma, Health Biotech. Remdesivir may be prescribed to Covid-19 patients who are hospitalized and require supplemental oxygen.
Presently, Brequinar is in the clinical trial stage. Studies show the combination of brequinar with a nucleoside analogue like Remdesivir or Molnupiravir is proving to be more effective in treating SARS-CoV2 virus.
“With the emerging threats of new variants, new treatments methods will remain critical,” said Mathew Frieman, co-principal investigator, University Of Maryland School Of Medicine. Scientists have now unveiled a number of powerful drug combinations, which have the potential to alter the course of the virus.
The experts remain upbeat despite the possibility of new variants being more deadly than their predecessors.
