Another Oral Antiviral Found Effective Against COVID-19

The peer-review New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) recently published an Original Article that an oral antiviral agent with potent activity against SARS-CoV-2 may become an option to treat COVID-19 patients.

On December 28, 2022, the NEJM published results from a phase 3 study focused on Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co.'s VV116.

This analysis compared the efficacy and safety of VV116 (JT001) and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir ("PAXLOVID™") in the treatment of symptomatic patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.

Among adults with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 at risk for progression, VV116 was noninferior to PAXLOVID concerning the time to sustained clinical recovery.

This trial showed that in symptomatic adults hospitalized with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 who were at high risk for severe disease, a 5-day oral treatment with VV116 was noninferior to nirmatrelvir–ritonavir in shortening the time to sustained clinical recovery.

And with fewer safety concerns (67.4% vs. 77.3%).

"Thanks to the support of the patients and study team, we have achieved great success in this clinical study and were recognized by the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine," said Professor Ren Zhao in a related press release.

"Our study not only provided valuable information and experience for the development and clinical application of two major anti-SARS-CoV-2 small molecule drug routes, the RdRp inhibitor, and the 3CL protease inhibitor."

"But also showed that our self-developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 oral drugs in China have similar efficacy and safety to PAXLOVID."

"We hope our study results can assist our nation's efforts to combat the epidemic."

It is the first time that NEJM published the clinical trial results (NCT05341609, ChiCTR2200057856.) of a China-developed anti-SARS-CoV-2 antiviral.

Dr. Zhao can be contacted at [email protected] at the Department of General Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 197 2nd Ruijin Rd., Shanghai, China.

Pfizer Inc.'s Paxlovid™ is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration Approved oral antiviral targeting the SARS-CoV-2 beta coronavirus to prevent COVID-19 in people.

Disclosures: This clinical study was funded by Vigonvita Life Sciences and others. The researchers disclosed various relationships but no industry conflicts. This content was manually curated.