Remdesivir, Molnupiravir, Nirmatrelvir remain active against Omicron, other variants of concern

 LauraVangeelaWinstonChiuaStevenDe JongheaPietMaesbBramSlechtencJorenRaymenantscdEmmanuelAndrécdPieterLeyssenaJohanNeytsa1DirkJochmansa

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2022.105252

PDF: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354222000201/pdfft?md5=1d6a05f462589a478c2c3cae742fff85&pid=1-s2.0-S0166354222000201-main.pdf

Highlights

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The omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant remains susceptible for GS-441524, Remdesivir, EIDD-1931, Molnupiravir and Nirmatrelvir.

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The target genes of these antivirals are highly conserved between SARS-CoV-2 variants.

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Similarly, the alpha, beta, gamma and delta variants remain susceptible to these antivirals.

Abstract

We assessed the in vitro antiviral activity of remdesivir and its parent nucleoside GS-441524, molnupiravir and its parent nucleoside EIDD-1931 and the viral protease inhibitor nirmatrelvir against the ancestral SARS-CoV2 strain and the five variants of concern including Omicron. VeroE6-GFP cells were pre-treated overnight with serial dilutions of the compounds before infection. The GFP signal was determined by high-content imaging on day 4 post-infection. All molecules have equipotent antiviral activity against the ancestral virus and the VOCs Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron. These findings are in line with the observation that the target proteins of these antivirals (respectively the viral RNA dependent RNA polymerase and the viral main protease Mpro) are highly conserved.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166354222000201