February 10, 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Effectively Treated and Prevented by EIDD-2801

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Testing and Treatment

Keywords (Tags): treatment

Mice implanted with human lung tissue may serve as an effective animal model to investigate SARS-CoV-2 infection and to test potential treatments and preventive agents. A study of human lung-only mice (LoM) showed that this platform can be used to study SARS-CoV-2 infection in vivo in ways that allows direct comparison of outcomes between mice and humans, and that bat coronaviruses could replicate in vivo without virus adaptation. The study also explored the effects of EIDD-2801 (molnupiravir), an antiviral medication currently in phase II–III clinical trials, which was found to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in human lung tissue, and prevented infection when administered as pre-exposure prophylaxis. EIDD-2801 reduced the number of infectious particles in lung tissue by 4.4 logs (>25,000 fold decrease) when treatment in the mice was initiated 24 hours post-exposure. Viral titers declined by 96% (1.5 logs) when treatment was started 48 hours post-exposure. 

Wahl et al. (Feb 9, 2021). SARS-CoV-2 Infection Is Effectively Treated and Prevented by EIDD-2801. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03312-w