COVID-19 Update #86 for 6/10/2021

COVID-19 Antivirals
 
Merck has entered an agreement with the U.S. government that if molnupiravir receives an EUA or is approved for the treatment of COVID-19, Merck will supply the U.S. with 1.7 million doses of molnupiravir for $1.2 billion.
 
COVID-19 Antibodies
 
The FDA updated the EUA for Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody combination, REGEN-COV. The dose had been lowered to 1,200 mg (600 mg casirivimab and 600 mg imdevimab). REGEN-COV is administered by intravenous infusion but can now be given subcutaneously when intravenous administration is not feasible.
 
In the 11,558 patient, open-label, convalescent plasma arm of the British RECOVERY trial (NCT04381936), treatment with convalescent plasma did not decrease 28-day mortality compared to usual care (24% in both groups) in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
 
COVID-19 Anti-inflammatories
 
In a 10-day, 86 patient, Iranian study, treatment with methylprednisolone 2 mg/kg/day improved the 9-point WHO ordinal scale (0 - uninfected to death 8) compared to dexamethasone 6 mg/day at five days (4.02 vs. 5.21) and 10 days (2.90 vs. 4.71) in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methylprednisolone also decreased the length of hospital stay (7.43 vs 10.52 days) and the need for mechanical ventilation (18.2% vs 38.1%). It should be noted the relative dose of methylprednisolone was higher than dexamethasone.