When given early, the antiviral drug molnupiravir (Lagevrio) halved the risk of COVID-19 death and reduced all-cause deaths among older adults in the Czech Republic in 2022, findings published yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases suggest.
Masaryk University researchers analyzed data from all 74,541 adults with a diagnosis of COVID-19 in the national registry infection treated with molnupiravir from January through December 2022, a period dominated by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. A control group consisted of 1.5 million matched COVID-19 patients not receiving the drug. Follow-up was 1 year.
Patients were eligible for molnupiravir if they were at risk for severe illness (age older than 65 years, being obese, or having underlying illnesses), had mild symptoms, and were within 7 days of a positive COVID-19 test. Average patient age was 56.7 years, and 73% were fully vaccinated against the virus.
Source: Antiviral COVID-19 drug molnupiravir tied to large drop in deaths in older patients | CIDRAP

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