UK study suggests Covid-19 drug causes virus mutation

Merck's molnupiravir, a pill-based Covid-19 treatment, is one of the earliest to be developed to prevent the disease from progressing to severe in at-risk people. The drug, prescribed for a five-day course, works by creating mutations in the virus to weaken and kill it, according to AFP.

Merck's Covid-19 drug molnupiravir

However, a new study published on September 25 by British scientists shows that molnupiravir can significantly increase the number of mutant viruses that are able to survive, and in some cases can spread.

The study, published in the journal Nature, was conducted after researchers combed through a database of more than 15 million SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) gene sequences. The data was used to track changes in the way the virus mutates during the pandemic. The researchers discovered signs of a unique mutation in the patient that they believe is linked to molnupiravir.

In 2022, when the drug was prescribed in huge numbers, the number of patients with the virus with this mutation increased significantly, most often in countries where molnupiravir was prescribed a lot, such as the US, UK, Australia and Japan. In countries where the drug was not yet approved, such as Canada or France, the number of cases was rare.

Geneticist Theo Sanderson at the Francis Crick Institute (UK), who led the research team, emphasized that there is no evidence that molnupiravir creates viruses with the ability to spread faster or with stronger virulence.

Furthermore, Mr Sanderson said that none of the variants sweeping the world were created by Merck's drug. "However, it is difficult to predict whether molnupiravir could lead to a new widely circulating variant to which humans have no prior immunity," Mr Sanderson noted.

Merck has dismissed the study, saying the researchers made a hypothesis without documentary evidence. Mr Sanderson disputed this claim, stressing that the team used multiple independent pieces of evidence to confidently identify molnupiravir as the cause of the mutation.

Evidence shows that prolonged Covid-19 affects multiple organs in humans

Some independent experts appear to side with the British team, according to AFP. However, they stress that molnupiravir poses no risk to people taking the drug, and are not urging patients to abandon the drug. Sanderson's team also suggests that molnupiravir should not be prescribed alone but in combination with other drugs.

Merck said sales of molnupiravir, sold under the trade name Lagevrio, would reach more than $20 billion in 2022. However, sales of the Covid-19 drug fell 82% in the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year.

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