Molnupiravir

In news- The United Kingdom became the first country in the world to approve Merck’s oral COVID-19 antiviral pill.

About the pill-

It was jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended the drug, for use in people with mild to moderate COVID-19.
It will be administered as soon as possible following a positive COVID-19 test and within five days of the onset of symptoms.
The green light is the first for an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 and the first for a COVID-19 drug that will be administered widely in the community.
The pill, which will be branded as Lagevrio in Britain, is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and is taken twice a day for five days.
In clinical trials the pill, originally developed to treat flu, cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half.
Drugs in the same class as molnupiravir have been linked to birth defects in animal studies.
It targets an enzyme that the virus uses to make copies of itself, introducing errors into its genetic code.
It could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for those most at risk of developing severe COVID-19 when given early in the illness.

How does it work?

Molnupiravir works by introducing errors in the mechanism, involving RNA replication, by which the virus makes copies of itself once it has infected an individual.
By tricking the virus into incorporating its material into copies of its RNA, the drug causes mutations to accumulate, eventually rendering it unable to reproduce.
By keeping virus levels low in the body, the pill is thus able to reduce the severity of the disease.