A Triple Hit On Merck's Wonder Drug

It seems the wonder is that Merck thinks it can push this drug on a public that is growing more wary by the day of Covid narratives and mandates. There are three hits on Molnupiravir today:

First, from Barron’s:

"Proceed With Caution At Your Own Peril" - Merck's COVID 'Super Drug' Poses Serious Health Risks, Scientists Warn

As it turns out, all the scientists and doctors who insisted that Merck's "revolutionary" COVID drug molnupiravir is extremely safe weren't faithfully adhering to "the science" after all. Because according to a report published Thursday by Barron's, some scientists are worried that the drug - which purportedly cut hospitalizations in half during a study that was cut short - could cause cancer or birth defects.

I guess I’m past worrying about birth defects, but … take a chance on cancer? No thanks.

Zerohedge also takes a swipe at former head of FDA, Scott Gottlieb, for endorsing a basically untested drug, then goes on to quote Barron’s on what the problem is:

Some scientists who have studied the drug warn, however, that the method it uses to kill the virus that causes Covid-19 carries potential dangers that could limit the drug’s usefulness.

Molnupiravir works by incorporating itself into the genetic material of the virus, and then causing a huge number of mutations as the virus replicates, effectively killing it. In some lab tests, the drug has also shown the ability to integrate into the genetic material of mammalian cells, causing mutations as those cells replicate.

If that were to happen in the cells of a patient being treated with molnupiravir, it could theoretically lead to cancer or birth defects.

Next, Reuters is carrying a report from India—Indian drug authorities want to discontinue trials of Molnupiravir because they basically don’t see any point:

Merck drug less effective against moderate COVID -India regulatory source

Merck & Co's (MRK.N) experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir has not shown "significant efficacy" against moderate COVID-19, a source with the Drug Controller General of India said.

Aurobindo Pharma Ltd wants to discontinue a late-stage trial of molnupiravir in moderate COVID-19 patients, the regulator's expert committee said on Friday. read more

"There is no significant efficacy against moderate COVID and the effective efficacy is towards mild cases," the source said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Finally, from a less authoritative source, but reflecting the concerns of scientists:

Is Molnupiravir a Global Catastrophic Threat?

Most of the article is behind a paywall, but …

Merck’s Molnupiravir (also known as EIDD-2801 and MK-4482) is a mutagenic nucleotide analogue [1]. It introduces errors in the SARS-COV-2 RNA at the time of replication after proofreading, and causes lethal mutagenesis [2]. This threatens to accelerate the evolution of the coronavirus.  

Any major variant of the coronavirus represents local optimum (in mutations space), maximizing coronavirus’ fitness. One- or two-point mutations cannot accomplish this. A new variant can only rise through the change of the virus-host-conditions systems, or through larger mutations set. Even a moderate increase in the point mutations frequency causes a big increase in the frequency of multi-point mutations and dangerous recombinations. Such events are too rare to be caught in small trials, but inevitable in large populations, and might lead to catastrophic consequences. The authorization and broad use of Molnupiravir is likely to breed very dangerous SARS-COV-2 variants. 

Who’s in favor of a global catastrophe? Of new and “very dangerous” Covid variants? Count me out, too.