Discussions of Chemical, Biological, and Economic Features of two FDA Authorized Antivirals Against COVID-19: Molnupiravir and Paxlovid

Molnupiravir from Merck and Paxlovid from Pfizer are both promising. Since December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic due to infection of SARS-CoV-2 has posed a challenge to global healthcare systems. Although vaccines and potential treatments have been developed, there are still many unknown areas of this virus, and people are still searching for efficient ways to treat the disease. Recently, two oral antivirals for COVID-19, Molnupiravir from Merck and Paxlovid from Pfizer, were developed and given emergency use authorization (EUA) from the U.S. FDA to reduce hospitalizations and death from COVID-19. Though the mechanism of action of the two drugs is very different, both drugs have shown promising efficacy in treating COVID-19 infections. This paper will compare these two drugs in various aspects, including their chemical structures, mechanism of action, efficacy and safety, and drug economics.