UK authorizes Merck antiviral pill, 1st shown to treat COVID-19: Molnupiravir - November 4, 2021

[sharon sanders]

UK authorizes Merck antiviral pill, 1st shown to treat COVID


By MATTHEW PERRONE and MARIA CHENG2 hours ago

LONDON (AP) — Britain granted conditional authorization on Thursday to the first pill shown to successfully treat COVID-19 so far. It also is the first country to OK the treatment from drugmaker Merck, although it wasn’t immediately clear how quickly the pill would be available.

The pill was licensed for adults 18 and older who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have at least one risk factor for developing severe disease, such as obesity or heart disease. Patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 would take four pills of the drug, known molnupiravir, twice a day for five days.

An antiviral pill that reduces symptoms and speeds recovery could prove groundbreaking, easing caseloads on hospitals and helping to curb outbreaks in poorer countries with fragile health systems. It would also bolster the two-pronged approach to the pandemic: treatment, by way of medication, and prevention, primarily through vaccinations.

more..

https://apnews.com/article/coronavi...th-pandemics-17905e9505a5ff50f2436b2bcb22f59f

 

[kiwibird]

https://apnews.com/article/coronavi...th-pandemics-17905e9505a5ff50f2436b2bcb22f59f

Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutic have requested clearance for the drug with regulators around the world for adults with early cases of COVID-19 who are at risk for severe disease or hospitalization. That’s roughly the same group targeted for treatment with infused COVID-19 antibody drugs, the standard of care in many countries for patients who don’t yet require hospitalization.

Merck announced preliminary results in September showing its drug cut hospitalizations and deaths by half among patients with early COVID-19 symptoms. The results haven’t yet been peer reviewed or published in a scientific journal.

The company also didn’t disclose details on molnupiravir’s side effects, except to say that rates of those problems were similar between people who got the drug and those who received dummy pills.

The drug targets an enzyme the coronavirus uses to reproduce itself, inserting errors into its genetic code that slow its ability to spread and take over human cells. That genetic activity has led some independent experts to question whether the drug could potentially cause mutations leading to birth defects or tumors.

I understand that a course of this will cost around £500.

 

[kiwibird]

From the same article "“Studies in rats showed that (molnupiravir) may cause harmful effects to the unborn offspring, although this was at doses which were higher than those that will be given to humans, and these effects were not observed in other animals,” the agency said in an email."

 

[kiwibird]

https://www.reuters.com/business/he...l-cuts-risk-severe-covid-19-by-89-2021-11-05/

Pfizer says antiviral pill cuts risk of severe COVID-19 by 89%

Nov 5 (Reuters) - A trial of Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said on Friday.

The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co Inc's (MRK.N) pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the likelihood of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients also at high risk of serious illness. read more

 

[kiwibird]

From the same article "It found that 0.8% of those given Pfizer's drug within three days of symptom onset were hospitalized and none had died by 28 days after treatment. That compared with a hospitalization rate of 7% for placebo patients. There were also seven deaths in the placebo group."