Possibility of using VV116, a Remdesivir analogue, to treat COVID-19
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Reviewed by Dat Tien Nguyen, B.A, ScM.
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Posted on February 15th, 2023
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The antiviral combination of Nirmaterlvir and Ritonavir is currently being recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19. However, worldwide access to this medication is very limited, and it cannot be widely used due to the high amount of drug-to-drug interactions. Remdesivir is another antiviral recommended by the WHO, but its usage is restricted to inpatient settings because the agent needed to be administered intravenously. VV116 is an analogue to Remdesivir that can be taken orally; a recent study conducted by manufacturing pharmaceutical company, Vigonvita Life Sciences, had compare the clinical efficacy and safety profile of VV116 to the Nirmaterlvir and Ritonavir combination
The phase 3 clinical trial was conducted in Shanghai, China during a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak (March to June 2022) which was dominated by the Omicron BA.2.2 subvariant. The study included 822 patients that had been diagnosed with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. RT-PCR was performed to confirm the presence of the virus, and the patient’s clinical manifestation was assessed using the scale produced by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The average age of this study population was 53 years old, and 75.7% of them had been vaccinated. These patients were randomly assigned to receive either 300 mg of nirmatrelvir plus 100 mg of ritonavir every 12 hours for 5 days or 600 mg of VV116 every 12 hours for the 1st day, and 300 mg every 12 hours for the next 4 days. Patients in both the VV116 and Nirmaterlvir & Ritonavir treatment arms took approximately 4 to 5 days to recover from COVID-19. In addition, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of duration before complete symptom resolution and time before a negative RT-PCR test. However, VV116 was significantly safer than the Nirmaterlvir & Ritonavir combination, because the frequency of reported adverse events is 10% lower in the VV116 group. Thus, in the absence of Nirmaterlvir & Ritonavir or when the antiviral combination is contraindicated, VV116 can potentially be used as a replacement treatment.
The phase 3 clinical trial was conducted in Shanghai, China during a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak (March to June 2022) which was dominated by the Omicron BA.2.2 subvariant. The study included 822 patients that had been diagnosed with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. RT-PCR was performed to confirm the presence of the virus, and the patient’s clinical manifestation was assessed using the scale produced by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The average age of this study population was 53 years old, and 75.7% of them had been vaccinated. These patients were randomly assigned to receive either 300 mg of nirmatrelvir plus 100 mg of ritonavir every 12 hours for 5 days or 600 mg of VV116 every 12 hours for the 1st day, and 300 mg every 12 hours for the next 4 days. Patients in both the VV116 and Nirmaterlvir & Ritonavir treatment arms took approximately 4 to 5 days to recover from COVID-19. In addition, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of duration before complete symptom resolution and time before a negative RT-PCR test. However, VV116 was significantly safer than the Nirmaterlvir & Ritonavir combination, because the frequency of reported adverse events is 10% lower in the VV116 group. Thus, in the absence of Nirmaterlvir & Ritonavir or when the antiviral combination is contraindicated, VV116 can potentially be used as a replacement treatment.