A new study has revealed that an anti-viral drug used to treat COVID-19 patients may be the cause of new mutations in the virus. According to the scientists, this antiviral drug is fueling the evolution of new variants.
The drug, Molnupiravir, is supposed to cause mutations that can destroy the virus. However, in certain cases, it is able to survive. Consequently, it can lead to mutated versions that occasionally spread to other people.
Sold under the brand name, Lagevrio, there is still no evidence whether it has produced more dangerous variants of COVID-19. According to the researchers, these mutations have increased the genetic diversity of the virus and provided more scope for future evolution.
“People have some concerns about molnupiravir and to some sense, this makes that more concrete. We know these viruses can still be alive following a significant number of mutations and they can still be transmissible in some cases,” said Dr Theo Sanderson, the lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in London as quoted by The Guardian.
The scientists have emphasised that the findings of this study are crucial for continuing assessments of the risks and benefits of molnupiravir and the development of other drugs that operate in a similar fashion.
In an article in the Nature Journal, the scientists highlighted various shreds of evidence that suggest molnupiravir can occasionally produce highly mutated but viable forms of the COVID-19 virus. However, the researchers are still not able to completely understand the implications of the mutations.
The team is now keen to understand whether drug-induced mutations explain an unusual finding in Oxford University’s Panoramic trial, which is investigating the effectiveness of COVID-19 antivirals. It is noteworthy that the trial found that the drug did not reduce the risk of hospitalisation or death among vaccinated, high-risk patients faced with the Omicron variant. However, it expediated the recovery time.
Meanwhile, MSD, the manufacturer of molnupiravir, said, as quoted by several media outlets, the drug controled viral replication and reduced shedding, which in turn reduced the risk of transmission.
The company added: “The authors assume these mutations were associated with viral spread from molnupiravir-treated patients without documented evidence of that transmission,. 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.”
In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first approved the drug for emergency use. However, the US regulator recommends against using Lagevrio during pregnancy because non-clinical studies suggest that it may cause fetal harm. It is also not authorised for use in patients under 18 as it may affect bone and cartilage growth.