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COVID-19 Treatment: Britain Approves New Antiviral Pill For Use

Merck's Molnupiravir

Britain has approved the use of a new COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by the U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a in an attempt to contain the rampaging pandemic.

Reuters reports that Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended the drug, molnupiravir, for use in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, older age diabetes, and heart disease thus making the country the first to approve the potentially game-changing pill.

It will be administered as soon as possible following a positive COVID-19 test and within five days of the onset of symptoms, the regulator said, citing clinical data.

The green light is the first for an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 and the first for a COVID-19 drug that will be administered widely in the community. U.S. advisers will meet on Nov. 30 to review the drug’s safety and efficacy data and vote on whether molnupiravir should be authorized.  The pill, which will be branded as Lagevrio in Britain, is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and is taken twice a day for five days.

Drugs in the same class as molnupiravir have been linked to birth defects in animal studies. Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has said animal testing shows that molnupiravir is safe, but the data have not yet been made public.

Treatments to tackle the pandemic, which has killed more than 5.2 million people worldwide, have so far focused mainly on vaccines. Other options, including Gilead’s (GILD.O) infused antiviral remdesivir and generic steroid dexamethasone, are generally only given after a patient has been hospitalised.

Merck’s Molnupiravir has been closely watched since data last month showed it could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for those most at risk of developing severe COVID-19 when given early in the illness.

The national medical director for the National Health Service (NHS) in England, Prof Stephen Powis, said the drug would be administered to patients at higher risk of complications as Britain heads into one of the most challenging winters ever.

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