AS part of its continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, government has signalled its intention to procure two additional antiviral pills that will be used to treat patients.

The drugs being sought are the Pfizer’s Paxlovid COVID-19 pill and the Merck & Co Inc. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’ molnupiravir COVID-19 pill.

“What we are working on currently is to make sure we can secure both the Merck drug and the Pfizer drug…we have been trying to work with different companies to see if we can get that into Guyana,” Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony said on Wednesday.

The pills which were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2021 are said to be useful in the treatment of persons who have tested positive for the virus.

Even as efforts to procure the pills continue, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony has indicated that medical personnel attached to the National Infectious Diseases Hospital, Liliendaal, continue to yield positive results from the use of remdesivir and baricitinib.

Speaking during his COVID-19 update on Friday, the minister said that both drugs are “antiretrovirals” and have the main use of interrupting the life cycle of the virus.

He noted that health facilities treating local COVID-19 patients have been utilising the medication for the past two months and have seen “very good results.”

“We’ve been using it for the last two or three months at the Ocean View hospital and for most of the patients that [sic] have received it, they got better outcome[s]. So, we will continue to do so. It’s now part of our guidelines and we were very pleased,” said Dr. Anthony.

The incorporation of the two drugs into the local COVID-19 treatment plan comes just a month after the WHO recommended baricitinib for treating the disease.

A statement by the WHO on January 14, 2022, stated, “Baricitinib is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical COVID-19. It is part of a class of drugs called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors that suppress the overstimulation of the immune system. WHO recommends that it be given with corticosteroids.”

OTHER TREATMENTS
Meanwhile, Minister Anthony noted that other treatment options are also being explored at the COVID-19 treatment facilities across the country, including the use of monoclonal antibodies, which was one of the leading treatments for COVID-19 patients.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens, such as, viruses like COVID-19.

Dr. Anthony noted, however, that since the virus can and has continued to mutate over time, certain treatments using the monoclonal antibodies have proven less effective, especially against the more recent Omicron variant.

“Monoclonals have been useful for some categories of patients, but what we have noticed with Omicron and this is globally, is that it is not as effective against Omicron or at least some of the older combinations.”

Minister Anthony noted that currently medical researchers are coming up with newer combinations that are expected to boost its effectiveness at tackling the Omicron variant. Further, he disclosed that should this combination be successful, the government will seek to purchase the treatment.