US pharmaceutical company Merck announced in the past weeks that it has developed the first pill form Molnupiravir, which reduces the effects of coronavirus and virus-related death rates, and stated that according to data obtained from 775 patients, the drug reduces hospitalization and death rates by 50 percent in people in the early stage of infection.
REPORTED TO BE 30 PERCENT EFFECTIVE
According to the new data of molnupiravir, the effectiveness of the drug in reducing hospitalizations and death rates was lower than previous data. In a statement made by Merck, it was reported that the pill was 30 percent effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths, according to new data from more than 1,400 patients.
The drug’s data were updated as 6.8 percent and 1 loss of life in patients taking Molnupiravir, and hospitalizations as 9.7 and 9 percent in the placebo group. “Given initial concerns about increased prevalence and resistance, we believe governments will continue to order both Merck’s Molnupiraviri and Pfizer’s Paxlovid,” said Andrew Baum, a US Analyst.
ENGLAND WAS THE FIRST COUNTRY TO APPROVE MOLNUPIRAVIR
The UK was the first country to approve Molnupiravir after the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) approved it. England made an agreement with Merck for 480 thousand Molnupiravir treatment cycles. UK health officials had recommended the drug be used in people at risk of contracting mild to moderate Covid-19.
Merck has also applied to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the use of the drug, and if the drug under evaluation is approved, the USA will start to apply approximately 1.7 million Molnupiravir treatments.
On the other hand, it was stated that Pfizer, which developed another Covid-19 drug in pill form, reduced the rate of hospitalization or death by 89 percent for the drug, whose laboratory trials are still ongoing and is expected to be released under the name Paxlovid. (UAV)