COVID Antiviral Pills: What Scientists Still Want to Know

November 10, 2021

(Nature) – If the results hold up in the real world, the medicines could be game-changers for the pandemic. Previous antiviral options against COVID-19 were expensive and had to be administered in a hospital. The new drugs are small molecules and can be taken at home. “They would be relatively cheap to manufacture,” says Charles Gore, executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool, a United Nations-backed organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, that works to increase access to medicines. “For large parts of the world that have not got good vaccine coverage, this is really a godsend.” But little is known about how well the drugs will work, and how easily they could be used in the places that need them most. Nature looks at five key factors that could determine how the new COVID-19 antivirals shape the course of the pandemic. (Read Full Article)