U.S. FDA okays emergency use of molnupiravir pill for COVID-19

Merck’s newly approved COVID-19 pill has been shown to reduce hospitalisations and deaths by about 30 percent in a clinical trial of high-risk individuals early in the course of the illness

Washington, U.S. | Xinhua | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday authorized American pharmaceutical company Merck’s oral antiviral for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19, the second pill approved for treating COVID-19 following the one from Pfizer.

Merck’s pill, called molnupiravir, is authorized to use in adults with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 viral testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death, and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatment options authorized by the FDA are not accessible or clinically appropriate, according to the FDA.

Molnupiravir is available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of symptom onset, said the FDA.

On Wednesday, the FDA authorized Pfizer’s oral antiviral tablets Paxlovid for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19, the first pill approved for COVID-19 treatment in the country.

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Xinhua

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