Scientists have identified the resistance of new variants of COVID-19 to drugs

New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have shown resistance to Paxlovid, so a viral protease inhibitor (antiviral drug) may not be effective in treating covid-19 . This follows from the results of a study published in the journal Science Advances.

The study was conducted by several scientists from the usa and Austria. They came to the results, according to which drug-resistant variants of the CORONAVIRUS appeared in the world. One set of mutations showed resistance to the protease inhibitor nirmatrelvir, the active ingredient in Paxlovid, and the other set showed resistance to encitrelvir, the ingredient in Xocova.

The scientists concluded that changing one amino acid in a SARS-CoV-2 drug could reduce its effectiveness. At the same time, coronavirus variants do not have simultaneous resistance to both protease inhibitors, so one of the drugs will still remain effective.

Paxlovid is a drug produced by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer. Intended for the treatment of patients with COVID-19, primarily for the treatment of people at risk. Xocova is a drug for the treatment of people diagnosed with COVID-19, developed by Japan's Hokkaido University and Shionogi. The use of the drug in countries other than Japan has not yet been approved.