Paxlovid vs Molnupiravir: Which is Better? (2024)
As another COVID-19 summer surge hit the US this year, many infected people likely were prescribed the antivirals nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, better known as Paxlovid, for the first time. Or for the fourth time. Or somewhere in between. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on May 25, 2023 granted full approval to Pfizer's oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, clearing the way for the drugmaker to sell it at market rates once U.S. government supplies dwindle. Paxlovid initially received emergency use authorization from the FDA in late 2021, when there was a desperate need for effective COVID treatments. The agency on May 25, 2023 approved the two-drug therapy to treat adults at high risk of progression to severe disease. Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) and Merck's Lagevrio (molnupiravir) were granted emergency use authorization (EUA) by the US FDA in late December 2021. These are the first two oral medications that can help prevent mild or moderate COVID-19 from wor...