Virology and safety profile of Molnupiravir at three different doses for treatment of SARS‐CoV‐2: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Molnupiravir is incorporated into the viral genome, thereby increasing errors, mismatching, and misdirecting the viral polymerase thereby, halting viral RNA replication of SARS‐CoV‐2. Following PRISMA guidelines, a thorough literature search was performed on electronic and medical databases from December 2022 till January 2023. Molnupiravir 800 mg showed significance in creating viral RNA error rate at Day 5 (WMD: 4.91; 95% CI; [1.19, 8.63] p = 0.01; I2 = 0%). Similarly, at 400 mg, Molnupiravir creates an RNA error rate (WMD: 2.27; 95% CI; 2.27 [0.50, 4.65] p = 0.02; I2 = 0%). Furthermore, exhibit a significant outcome for mean change in SARS‐CoV‐2 RNA viral load from baseline in nasopharyngeal sample at 800 mg Molnupiravir on Day 3 (WMD: −0.22; 95% CI; [−0.35, −0.08] p = 0.002; I2 = 0%), Day 5 (WMD: −0.32; 95% CI; [−0.53, −0.11] p = 0.003; I2 = 24%) and overall pooled analysis (WMD: −0.17; 95% CI; [−0.29, 0.33] p = 0.003; I2 = 32%). Moreover, Molnupiravir 400 mg significantly reduced the incidence of death compared to the placebo group (RR: 0.17; 95% CI; [0.07, 0.43] p = 0.0002; I2 = 0%). Molnupiravir effectively treats SARS‐CoV‐2 patients by eliminating the virus from the host.