Image provided by Merck & Co. showing their new antiviral medication. AP.
A study that has yet to receive peer review claimed that COVID-19 treatment Lagevrio gives rise to new mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Mutations linked to the drug have not resulted in more lethal or immune-evasive forms of the virus, according to the study.
- Researchers from the U.S. and several U.K. institutions published a preprint study on Friday, claiming that the use of Lagevrio, a treatment for COVID-19, is linked to mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
- The
treatment is intended to reduce the chances of severe illness by
altering the SARS-CoV-2 genome to prevent the virus from replicating in
the human body.
- The study's findings have revived concern among experts that the drug may cause problematic mutations.
- The
fears were largely "theoretical" but the preprint "validates a lot of
those concerns," said Jonathan Li, a virologist at Harvard Medical
School.
- Merck, the drug's manufacturer, has disputed the
findings, saying that "there is no evidence to indicate that any
antiviral agent has contributed to the emergence of circulating
variants."
- The study was published on a "preprint server" that allows new research to become widely accessible before going through standard review procedures.
- Prominent
scientific journals do not publish studies until they have been
subjected to scrutiny by outside experts, a process known as "peer review."
