SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is highly sensitive to molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir, and the combination

Annemarie C. de Vries,Robbert J. Rottier,Marla Lavrijsen,Maikel P. Peppelenbosch,Qiuwei Pan,Bart L. Haagmans,Yining Wang,Pengfei Li,Marco J. Bruno,Mart M. Lamers

doi:10.1038/s41422-022-00618-w

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant is highly sensitive to molnupiravir, nirmatrelvir, and the combination

Highlights

Molnupiravir is a small-molecule prodrug of the nucleoside derivative N-hydroxycytidine (NHC)
In these cells inoculated with the virus and treated with molnupiravir, we found potent and dose-dependent inhibition of viral replication based on qRT-PCR quantification of intracellular viral genomic RNA (Fig. 1a)
Nirmatrelvir is the key component of PAXLOVID, which inhibits the main protease of SARSCoV-2.8 Results from a large phase 2/3 trial reported an 89% reduction in the risk of hospitalization or death for COVID-19 patients treated with PAXLOVID.[9]

Summary

Introduction

Molnupiravir is a small-molecule prodrug of the nucleoside derivative N-hydroxycytidine (NHC). We observed that Omicron, as comparted to WT SARS-CoV-2, showed a reduced capability of propagation in human lung epithelial Calu-3 cells (Supplementary information, Fig. S1). In these cells inoculated with the virus and treated with molnupiravir, we found potent and dose-dependent inhibition of viral replication based on qRT-PCR quantification of intracellular viral genomic RNA (Fig. 1a).

Objectives

Results

Conclusion