Simnotrelvir Shortens Time to Resolution of Symptoms in COVID-19

On day 5, the decrease in viral load from baseline was greater in the simnotrelvir group versus placebo group

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Jan. 18, 2024 (HealthDay News) — For adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, early administration of simnotrelvir plus ritonavir shortens the time to sustained resolution of symptoms, according to a study published in the Jan. 18 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Bin Cao, M.D., from the Institute of Respiratory Medicine in the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing, and colleagues enrolled 1,208 patients at 35 sites in China with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 and onset of symptoms within the past three days to receive 750 mg of simnotrelvir plus 100 mg of ritonavir or placebo twice daily for five days (603 and 605 patients, respectively).

The researchers found that the time to sustained resolution of COVID-19 symptoms was significantly shorter in the simnotrelvir group than the placebo group (180.1 versus 216.0 hours) among patients in the modified intention-to-treat population. The decrease in viral load from baseline was greater in the simnotrelvir group than in the placebo group on day 5 (mean difference, −1.51 ± 0.14 log₁₀ copies/mL). A higher incidence of adverse events during treatment was seen in the simnotrelvir group versus placebo group (29.0 versus 21.6 percent); most of the adverse events were mild or moderate.

“Early administration of simnotrelvir plus ritonavir was effective in shortening the time to symptom resolution among adult patients with COVID-19, without evident safety concerns,” the authors write.

The study was funded by the Jiangsu Simcere Pharmaceutical Co., the manufacturer of simnotrelvir.

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