More News on COVID Treatments

 Once again the medicinal chemists make headway in treating COVID. Pfizer is said to have an oral treatment drug in Phase I clinical trials. The lead molecule was initially found in 2003. [Lead molecules are those drug candidates that showed promise in the laboratory setting.] Pfizer was said to have discovered it for the SARS outbreak almost twenty years ago. The present candidate molecule is said to attach (form an irreversible bond) to COVID enzymes responsible for reproduction in the host. It effectively shuts down the virus.

Indirectly quoting from Chemical and Engineering News, scientists expect the COVID virus to stick around. How long? It is unknown. When a sizable number of the population refuses to ‘mask up,’ we could face an extended amount of time fighting the virus. 

According to the article from Chemical and Engineering News, Charlotte Allerton from Pfizer’s medicine  design,  

‘“For the foreseeable future, we will expect to see continued outbreaks from COVID-19.’”

Well, How Do Clinical Trials Work?— In a Nutshell

Given the caution that now has been applied to the J&J vaccine and the Astra Zeneca vaccine, it needs to be understood normal pharmaceutical drugs go through at least three clinical trials. The stringent standards can save lives. At this juncture, most of us need the patience to understand if a sizable number of individuals can’t tolerate the oral drug, the scientists need to understand how and why. The answers to ‘how and why’ could save future lives. I, we , and all need to muster the needed patience. I wish I knew how to assuage issues of the anxiety behind impatience. We collectively need to hang in there. 


REFERENCE:

Pfizer unveils its oral SARS-CoV-2 inhibitor (acs.org)


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