Safety Profile of Molnupiravir with Significant Effect on COVID-19: A Review

Background As the COVID era unfolds, researchers reveal that rapid changes in viral genetic material allow viruses to circumvent challenges triggered by the host immune system and resist anti-viral drugs, potentially leading to persistent viral manifestations in host cells. Molnupiravir (RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor) is a novel anti-viral medicine promising a vital role in coming setbacks. Objectives This review aims to clarify the safety and efficacy of the molnupiravir molecule in light of existing case studies. As a result, it is intended to explore and discuss the molecular structure, mechanism of action, discovery and development process, preclinical research, clinical investigations, and other subtopics. Methods A total of 75 publications were searched using multiple engines, such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, ClinicalTrials.gov, and others, with a constraint applied to exclude publications published over 11 years ago. Molnupiravir, safety, efficacy, COVID-19, RdRp, PK-PD, and clinical study were utilized as keywords. Results Clinical results on molnupiravir are supported by investigations that were recently disclosed in a study on both sex volunteers (male and female) with an age restriction of 19 to 60 years, followed by a Phase-3 Clinical Trial (NCT04575584) with 775 randomly assigned participants and no fatalities reported due to treatment. Conclusion Molnupiravir proved a high level of safety, allowing it to be tested further. This review supports the safety and efficacy of this molecule based on the established evidence, which claims the most anticipated employment of molnupiravir in COVID protocol.