Molnupiravir, once thought to be a game changer, has slid down the ranks among the four available choices for at-risk patients with COVID-19.
Merck & Co, Inc., and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’ Molnupiravir, which was recently granted an emergency use authorization and was then a considered a promising oral antiviral, has become the last option.
"The Merck product is only 30% effective, so we're not dispensing it," Jim Mangia, president of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center in Lost Angeles, told Reuters.
U.S. doctors, health care systems and pharmacies told Reuters that potential safety issues and its relatively low efficacy compared to other drugs has made Molnupiravir the least priority for use among Paxlovid (Pfizer), Sotrovimab (GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology) and Remdesivir (Gilead Sciences, Inc.).
As of Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' data shows that 265,000 courses of Paxlovid and 1.1 million courses of Molnupiravir have been distributed.
The federal data also shows that hundreds of thousands of courses of Molnupiravir are sitting on the shelves of pharmacies and hospitals, Reuters reported. Steve Moore, pharmacist and owner of Condo Pharmacy in Plattsburgh, New York, told Reuters that 70 out of the 80 courses of Molnupiravir he received remain in stock, while all 40 courses of Paxlovid have moved fast out of the inventory.
