Although these new drugs need more testing and review, they offer the possibility of a stronger, more targeted approach. And this particular drug, molnupiravir, could be useful because it is administrated in the early stages of the disease.
It’s just a pill, so you can imagine how it would spare the patient a trip to the hospital for a transfusion for treatments like monoclonal antibodies. And it’s also cheaper.
A course of molnupiravir costs $700, which yes, isn’t exactly cheap, but a transfusion alone can reach up to $1,000, and that’s on top of the costs of the drugs that are delivered intravenously.
