April 13th 2023

Published in Frontiers in Pharmacology: Combination of antiviral drugs proved to be more efficient than monotherapy

Published in Frontiers in Pharmacology: Combination of antiviral drugs proved to be more efficient than monotherapy

Combinations of antiviral drugs result in improved potency and help to avoid or delay the development of resistant variants in some infectious disease (such as HIV and hepatitis C). From this perspective, CARE partner KU Leuven (KUL, Belgium) explored the potential efficacy of a combination treatment against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

In vitro combination of GS-441524 – a parent nucleoside of remdesivir – and molnupiravir resulted in an overall additive antiviral effect, with a synergism at certain concentrations. Interestingly, co-administration of suboptimal doses of both compound to infected hamsters resulted in a potent antiviral efficacy compared to montherapy.  The combined antiviral activity of drugs having two different mechanisms – molnupiravir induces lethal mutagenesis and GS-441524 terminates RNA transcription prematurely – appears to be highly effective in reducing SARS-CoV-2 replication/infectivity.

The unexpected potent antiviral effect of the combination warrants further exploration as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

To learn more, click here: Combination of the parent analogue of remdesivir (GS-441524) and molnupiravir results in a markedly potent antiviral effect in SARS-CoV-2 infected Syrian hamsters