Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The UK’s medicines regulator approved Merck’s molnupiravir which is the world’s first oral antiviral medicine against Covid-19. The molnupiravir can reduce the risk of hospitalisation or death for patients with mild or moderate cases of infectious disease.
According to the official reports, the UK now become the first country to approve molnupiravir. This is also co-developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and is administered orally and works by inhibiting the replication of the coronavirus inside the body.
In an official statement, Merck Research Laboratories Executive Vice President, and President Dr Dean Y. Li, E said “As an oral therapeutic, molnupiravir offers an important addition to the vaccines and medicines deployed so far to counter the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency stated that the decision follows a rigorous review of its safety, quality and effectiveness and made it the “first oral antiviral for the treatment of Covid-19 to be approved.
The authorisation is based on positive results from an interim analysis of a Phase 3 study, which included 775 participants. The results showed that just 7.3 per cent of patients treated with molnupiravir were hospitalised within 29 days. As of now, no such death reports were reported who were given within the 29 day period, while eight deaths were reported in placebo-treated patients.
Pic Courtesy – Google
