Scientists from Rutgers found an antiviral drug used to treat SARS-CoV-2 remains effective against the newest variants of the evolving virus.
They found that the Pfizer antiviral drug Paxlovid still quashes COVID by jamming the cell machinery of a key protein, known as the “main protease” or Mpro, involved in replicating the virus.
But the study also conveys a warning—scientists discovered through genetic analysis that the virus is beginning to evolve in ways that may produce strains that can evade present treatments.
The research is published in Cell Research and was conducted by Jun Wang et al.
As COVID’s Omicron variant spreads rapidly throughout the world, with recent severe outbreaks in Asia, authorities have watched to see whether the virus evolves “resistance,” evading the defenses provided by current medicines.
With only a few drugs that are available to treat COVID, physicians are counting on treatments like Paxlovid to stem the spread.
In the study, the team accessed a public database known as GISAYS, studying the Mpro sequences of all strains of COVID detected so far.
The protein is central to the reproduction of the virus and the target of the antiviral Paxlovid.
The researchers found the top 25 most common new mutations in the main protease of many Omicron strains, with the most common one called P132H.
When they tested Paxlovid against the Mpro with the P132H mutation, the antiviral remained effective.
The team says although this mutation does not cause the drug resistance to Paxlovid, this implies that the virus can still evolve to create additional mutations that might cause drug resistance.
When a drug gets widespread use, it is just a matter of time before resistance appears.
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