Molnupiravir Inhibits Replication of the Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in a Hamster Infection Model
et al., The Journal of Infectious Diseases, doi:10.1093/infdis/jiab361, Jul 2021
Hamster study showing molnupiravir effective against the original, B.1.1.7, and B.1.351 variants.
Potential risks of molnupiravir include the creation of dangerous variants, and mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, and embryotoxicity1-15. Multiple analyses have identified variants potentially created by molnupiravir16-20.
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Abdelnabi et al., 9 Jul 2021, peer-reviewed, 6 authors.
Abstract: The Journal of Infectious Diseases
Brief Report
Molnupiravir Inhibits Replication of
the Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants of
Concern in a Hamster Infection Model
Rana Abdelnabi,1 Caroline S. Foo,1 Steven De Jonghe,1 Piet Maes,2,3,
Birgit Weynand,4 and Johan Neyts1,5
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoCs) has
exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently available monoclonal antibodies and vaccines appear to have reduced efficacy
against some of these VoCs. Antivirals targeting conserved proteins of SARS-CoV-2 are unlikely to be affected by mutations
arising in VoCs and should therefore be effective against emerging
variants. We here investigate the efficacy of molnupiravir, currently
in phase 2 clinical trials, in hamsters infected with Wuhan strain or
B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants. Molnupiravir proved to be effective
against infections with each of the variants and therefore may have
potential combating current and future emerging VoCs.
Keywords. SARS-CoV-2; antivirals; molnupiravir; VoC,
hamsters, coronavirus; B.1.351.
Since its emergence in Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1],
the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARSCoV-2) has spread worldwide resulting in a global pandemic
with more than 148 million cases and approximately 3.1 million deaths reported up to 27 April 2021 (www.covid19.who.
int). Variants of SARS-CoV-2 are emerging in different parts
of the world, posing a new threat of increased virus spread and
potential to escape from both vaccine-induced and natural
infection-induced immunity. So far, 4 major circulating SARSCoV-2 variants of concern (VoC) have been identified: lineages
B.1.1.7 (UK), B.1.351 or 501Y.V2 (South Africa), B.1.1.28.1 or
P.1 (Brazil), and B.429 (California) [2]. These VoC have been
implicated in new, massive waves of infections and new spikes
Received 3 May 2021; editorial decision 25 June 2021; accepted 8 July 2021; published online
July 9, 2021.
Correspondence: Johan Neyts, PhD, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega
Institute, Herestraat 49, Box 1043, 3000 Leuven, Belgium (johan.neyts@kuleuven.be).
The Journal of Infectious Diseases® 2021;224:749–53
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society
of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted
reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
DOI:10.1093/infdis/jiab361
METHODS
All virus-related work was conducted in the high-containment
biosafety level 3 facilities of the Katholieke Universiteit
Brief Report • jid 2021:224 (1 September) • 749
1
Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and
Transplantation, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven,
Belgium, 2Laboratory of Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, Department of Microbiology,
Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven,
Belgium, 3Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Unit, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, 4Department
of Imaging and Pathology, Division of Translational Cell and Tissue Research, Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, and 5Global Virus Network, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
in excess mortality in..
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