Emory University Drug Innovation Ventures Group in collaboration with Merck Inc. and with support from the NIH-NIAID has developed MK-4482 (molnupiravir in combination with EIDD-2801) to treat avian influenza.  The antiviral is undergoing Phase 2 and 3 human clinical studies as a potential therapy for COVID-19.  The antiviral was shown to be effective in preventing lung lesions and suppressed viral proliferation in a hamster model developed jointly by the NIH Rocky Mountain Laboratory and the University 0f Plymouth in the UK*. 

In the animal studies, MK-4482 was effective when administered twelve hours before or twelve hours after hamsters were infected with SARS-COV-2.  MK4482 can be delivered orally and would be easier to deploy as a therapy compared to other antiviral drugs that require intravenous administration suggesting wider availability to other than hospitalized patients. 

*Rosenke K. et al.  Orally delivered MK-4482 inhibits SARS-COV-2 replication in the Syrian hamster model. Nature Communications DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22580-8 (2021).