Paxlovid Less Effective Against Viral Variants

Resistance to Paxlovid™ is already evident among viral SARS-CoV-2 variants currently circulating globally, indicating that this stand-alone antiviral, known as a protease inhibitor, could soon become less effective in treating COVID-19 patients.

Published on March 29, 2023, this study's conclusion was presented in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances.

To lower the risk of resistance, the researchers say protease inhibitors must be carefully designed to avoid simple resistance mutations. 

These researchers wrote that these results encourage the monitoring of resistance variants and the development of additional protease inhibitors and other antiviral drugs with different mechanisms of action and resistance profiles for combinatorial therapy.

"Despite Paxlovid's proven success in blunting COVID-19 symptoms, the long-term consequences of its widespread use in speeding up resistance are unknown," commented S. Arad Moghadasi, co-author of the study and a University of Minnesota Medical School graduate student in a press release.