"The 182-subject mid-stage, or Phase 2, trial studied the effect of various doses of molnupiravir in people who had developed Covid-19 symptoms within the previous week, tested positive for the disease during the most recent four days and weren't hospitalized.
Tests didn't detect infectious virus in any of the study volunteers who took molnupiravir twice a day after five days of treatment, while 24% of subjects who received a placebo did, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics reported at the virtual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. Subjects who took larger doses of the drug also had lower levels of infectious virus than the placebo group after three days.
Ridgeback Biotherapeutics co-founder Wayne Holman said the results indicate the drug prevents the new coronavirus from replicating in the body and offer the first proof that an oral antiviral drug can be effective against the virus.
Unlike other drugs targeting the spike protein protruding from the surface of the virus, molnupiravir attacks a portion of the virus that helps it reproduce." [1]
1. U.S. News: Covid-19 Pill Shows Promising Results
McKay, Betsy. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]08 Mar 2021: A.6.