The efficacy of molnupiravir in treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been inconsistent across randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Thus, this meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the literature. A literature search of electronic databases-PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library-was performed to identify relevant articles published up to December 31, 2022. Only RCTs that investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of molnupiravir for patients with COVID-19 were included. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality at 28-30 days. This pooled analysis of nine RCTs did not reveal a significant difference in all-cause mortality between molnupiravir and control groups (risk ratio [RR], 0.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.10-1.77) for overall patients. However, the risks of mortality and hospitalization were lower in the molnupiravir group than in the control group (mortality: RR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.10-0.79; hospitalization: RR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.45-0.99) among nonhospitalized patients. In addition, molnupiravir use was associated with a borderline higher virological eradication rate relative to the control (RR, 1.05; 95% CI, 1.00-1.11). Finally, no significant difference in adverse event risk was discovered between the groups (RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.89-1.08). The findings reveal the clinical benefits of molnupiravir for nonhospitalized patients with COVID-19. However, molnupiravir may not improve the clinical outcomes of hospitalized patients. These findings support the recommended use of molnupiravir for treating nonhospitalized patients with COVID-19 but not for hospitalized patients.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; hospitalization; molnupiravir; mortality.
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