{"id":188071,"date":"2023-09-25T17:14:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T21:14:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=188071"},"modified":"2023-09-25T18:47:34","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T22:47:34","slug":"big-pharma-knew-in-advance-that-their-covid-antiviral-drugs-would-cause-all-sorts-of-mutation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=188071","title":{"rendered":"

Big Pharma<\/i> knew in advance that their Covid antiviral drugs would cause all sorts of mutations with great health consequences.<\/b><\/h2>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning as popular Covid antiviral drug is driving unexpected mutation<\/h1>\n
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Molnupiravir was one of the first antivirals available on the market during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was employed by many countries, including the US, particularly against chronic infections.<\/h3>\n

By\u00a0IAN RANDALL
\nDAILY EXPRESS<\/p>\n<\/header>\n

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\"A<\/picture><\/p>\n

A drug widely used against COVID-19 is driving an unintended pattern of mutations in SARS-CoV-2\u00a0(Image: Getty Images)<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n
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An antiviral drug widely used against\u00a0COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0is driving an unintended pattern of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is increasing its genetic diversity.<\/p>\n

This is the warning of an international team of researchers who studied some 15 million SARS-CoV-2 sequences to map out exactly how the\u00a0coronavirus<\/a>\u00a0has mutated over time.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0viruses<\/a>\u00a0do naturally mutate, the analysis revealed mutational events that looked very different from the regular pattern of change \u2014 and nearly a third of these unusual shifts were associated with people who had taken the antiviral molnupiravir.<\/p>\n

This drug \u2014 manufactured by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics \u2014\u00a0works by inducing mutations in the viral genome during replication, many of which either damage or kill the virus, helping to reduce the body\u2019s viral load.<\/p>\n

However, the team found that some of the changes caused by molnupiravir aren\u2019t having the intended effect \u2014 and are causing enduring mutations instead.<\/p>\n

The analysis revealed small clusters of these mutations, suggesting that they are being transmitted between patients. At present, the researchers said, no established variants of concern have been linked to these mutational signatures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"An<\/picture><\/p>\n

Experts studied some 15 million SARS-CoV-2 sequences to map out how the virus has mutated over time\u00a0(Image: Getty Images)<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n
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The study was undertaken by geneticist Dr Theo Sanderson of the Francis Crick Institute in London, England and his colleagues.<\/p>\n

Sanderson said: \u201cCOVID-19 is still having a major effect on human health, and some people have difficulty clearing the virus, so it\u2019s important we develop drugs which aim to cut short the length of infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut our evidence shows that a specific antiviral drug \u2014 molnupiravir \u2014 also results in new mutations, increasing the genetic diversity in the surviving viral population.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur findings are useful for ongoing assessment of the risks and benefits of molnupiravir treatment. The possibility of persistent antiviral-induced mutations needs to be taken into account for the development of new drugs which work in a similar way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Patterns<\/picture><\/p>\n

Pictured: patterns of mutation seen in this study was the same seen in molnupiravir studies\u00a0(Image: Sanderson et al. \/ Nature)<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n<\/div>\n
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Paper co-author Dr Christopher Ruis \u2014 a geneticist at the University of Cambridge, England \u2014 added: \u201cMolnupiravir is one of a number of drugs being used to fight COVID-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt belongs to a class of drugs that can cause the virus to mutate so much that it is fatally weakened.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what we\u2019ve found is that in some patients, this process doesn\u2019t kill all the viruses, and some mutated viruses can spread.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is important to take into account when assessing the overall benefits and risks of molnupiravir and similar drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full findings of the study were published in the journal\u00a0Nature<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A spokesperson for Merck & Co. told Daily Express US: \u201cClinical and preclinical data show molnupiravir impairs viral replication and reduces viral shedding, which would reduce the risk of transmission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe authors of the Sanderson et al. manuscript based their research on divergent global database SARS-CoV-2 sequences capturing specific mutational patterns present within the viral populations. The authors assume these mutations were associated with viral spread from molnupiravir-treated patients without documented evidence of that transmission.<\/p>\n

\u201c Instead, the authors rely on circumstantial associations between the region from which the sequence was identified and timeframe of sequence collection in countries where molnupiravir is available to draw their conclusions. Furthermore, these sequences were uncommon and were associated with sporadic cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs noted by the authors, there are limitations to the analyses conducted in this study, which are described in more detail in the manuscript. These data must be considered in the context of all available clinical and non-clinical molnupiravir data.\u201d<\/p>\n

They added: \u201cWe are confident in the clinical profile of LAGEVRIO (molnupiravir), an authorized oral therapeutic option that can be taken at home, as soon as possible after a diagnosis of COVID-19 has been made, and within 5 days of symptom onset.<\/p>\n

\u201cLAGEVRIO has no known drug\u2013drug interactions, based on available data, and does not require dose modifications for those with impaired kidney or liver function.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daily Express US has reached out to Ridgeback Biotherapeutics for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\nhttps:\/\/www.the-express.com\/news\/health\/112809\/covid-unexpected-mutations-virus-drug-molnupiravir<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warning as popular Covid antiviral drug is driving unexpected mutation Molnupiravir was one of the first antivirals available on the market during the COVID-19 pandemic, and was employed by many countries, including the US, particularly against chronic infections. By\u00a0IAN RANDALL … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=188071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188071\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=188071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=188071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=188071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}