COVID Antiviral Oral Pill Molnupiravir: Know Price, Dosage, Side Effects And Other Details

The antiviral drug molnupiravir, which received emergency use approval to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in India recently, was launched on Monday at a price of Rs 1,399 for the full five-day course, making it the cheapest antiviral treatment during the pandemic.

COVID Antiviral Pill Molnupiravir: What You Need To Know

Dr Reddy's Laboratories has launched the antiviral drug molnupiravir at a price of Rs 35 per capsule. The pharma company stated that the affordably-priced molnupiravir capsules 200mg would be launched under the brand name Molflu across India [1].

The chairman of Mankind Pharma, RC Juneja, has said the company is planning to launch Molnupiravir, a COVID-19 antiviral drug, at the cost of 35 rupees per capsule, according to a report that appeared in the Economic Times [2]. A full treatment of Molulife (brand name) will cost Rs 1,399, according to Mankind Pharma chairman. According to Juneja, the product will be available in the next few days.

Molnupiravir is the first oral anti-Covid pill approved by the UK's drug regulator. It was developed by MSD and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. Molnupiravir has also been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults and patients at a high risk of severe illness.

• The drug is approved for limited use in emergencies for treating adults at high risk of COVID-19 progression.
• Thirteen Indian pharmaceutical companies will manufacture the oral pill, including Torrent, Cipla, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy's, Natco, Mylan, and Hetero.

What Is Molnupiravir?

Molecularly, molnupiravir is an antiviral medication that inhibits the replication of certain RNA viruses. The drug is used to treat individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 who have COVID-19. The recommended dose of Molnupiravir is 800 mg twice a day for 5 days.

Molnupiravir is a prodrug of the synthetic nucleoside derivative N4-hydroxycytidine, and it works by introducing copying errors in virus RNA replication [3]. Molnupiravir was originally developed to treat influenza at Emory University by the university's drug innovation company, Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE), but was abandoned due to mutagenic concerns (problems posed by some pesticides and their trace impurities) [4].

Who Can Use Molnupiravir?

The purpose of molnupiravir is to treat mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease in adults who have a positive result from a direct SARS-CoV-2 viral test and who are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 [5].

What Is The Price For Molnupiravir?

Dr Reddy's Molflu will be priced at Rs. 35 per capsule with 10 capsules contained per strip, and the total course of 40 capsules over 5 days costing Rs. 1,400 making it among the most affordable treatment options available to patients.

Mankind Pharma's Molulife (brand name) is also expected to cost Rs 1,400, RC Juneja, chairman of Mankind Pharma.

What Is The Recommended Dosage For Molnupiravir?

Molnupiravir 800 mg should be taken twice daily for five consecutive days. The patient should take 40 capsules containing 200 mg of the drug every day. That is 4 (200 mg) capsules every 12 hours for 5 days in total [6].

What Are The Side Effects of Molnupiravir?

Pregnant women should not use this product. There are no human data on the use of this substance during pregnancy in order to assess the risk of adverse maternal and foetal outcomes. It has been suggested that the drug is likely to cause harm to the foetus based on animal studies [7].

Due to potential adverse reactions in the infant, breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment. There is no information regarding the presence of the drug or its metabolites in human milk. There is no information regarding whether it affects the infant or breast milk production.

In patients under 18 years of age, the use of this medication may adversely affect bone and cartilage development. In rats, bone and cartilage toxicity has been observed after repeated administration [8].

Other mild side effects of molnupiravir include diarrhoea, dizziness and nausea.