A new Chinese antiviral pill for COVID-19 could prove to be an effective alternative to the COVID-19 oral drug Paxlovid.
Clinical trial results published by The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday (Dec 28) show that VV116 was just as effective as Paxlovid at curbing mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms in adults at risk of the disease worsening.
The Phase 3 trials held in China, involving 822 participants, revealed that newly diagnosed patients who took VV116 recovered after a median of four days, while those who took Paxlovid recovered after a median of five days.
The study also concluded that the participants who took VV116 until their clinical recovery from COVID-19 had fewer side effects.
However, the effectiveness of the new drug for clinical recovery, symptom resolution, and prevention of COVID-19 remains unknown, compared to Paxlovid. The safety profiles of VV116 have also not been fully assessed.
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