The NEJM China clinical trial shows that the new coronavirus drug may be superior to Paxlovid

People with COVID-19 will soon be able to take a new antiviral drug to prevent severe illness
.

In a phase III clinical trial conducted in China, the treatment, called VV116, like Paxlovid, was effective
in people at high risk of severe disease.

Ren Zhao, a co-author of the study and a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, said at a press conference announcing the results that the trial was a "great success.
"

Similar to remdesivir, an antiviral infusion, VV116 has not been approved
by the U.
S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Medical experts suggest that it may first need more research in a larger, more diverse patient population to look for rare side effects and see how
well it works against the Omicron variant that has emerged since the trial began.

The results were published Dec.
28 in
the New England Journal of Medicine.

"You have a drug that looks just as good as Paxlovid but is less of a hassle," Dr.
Panagis Galiatsatos, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, told NBC News
.

The trial found that patients reported fewer side effects, with about 67 percent of patients taking VV116 reporting side effects, compared with 77 percent of patients taking Paxlovid, and fewer reactions to other medications, such as those used to treat insomnia, epilepsy or high blood pressure
.

"It looks like we might have another tool in our toolbox," Galiatsatos noted
.

In the trial, fewer patients had elevated levels of triglycerides (fats in the blood that increase the risk of heart disease or stroke) at 11 percent, compared with 21 percent
in the Paxlovid group.

Galiatsatos said reducing side effects is "a big deal.
"

In the VV116 trial, more than 380 people took the drug
for about 5 days.
Another group of people of similar size took Paxlovid
.
Patients with VV116 recover 4 days after initiation of treatment (defined as 2 consecutive days without symptoms).

For Paxlovid patients, recovery
occurs within five days.
The results showed that about 98% of patients recovered within four weeks, and none developed severe COVID-19
.

The researchers note that while Paxlovid patients sometimes experience symptom rebound within days or weeks of treatment, this does not happen when remdesivir is infusion, which is similar
to remdesivir.

According to NBC News, Gilead Sciences is testing a similar drug
based on remdesivir.
Standard phase III drug trials typically include up to 3,000 people, but Paxlovid's late-stage trial has 2,200 people involved
, NBC News reported.
China's trials are much
smaller.

Galiatsatos said: "Rare side effects
only occur when you put it in a larger population.
It's like buying a lottery ticket: one in a hundredth won't win, but one in a million won, because you increase your odds
of seeing rare events.
”

Paxlovid can cause liver damage, mostly in patients who already have liver problems
.
It can also react negatively to statins and heart
medications.

"Paxlovid is still a great drug, but there are a variety of reasons why it doesn't really benefit everyone
," Galiatsatos said.

According to NBC News, antiviral drugs can stop the virus from replicating and are less sensitive
to changes in the coronavirus, such as new variants.