The United Kingdom has already ordered 480,000 doses of Molnupiravir. British authorities have become the first in the world to approve a tablet to treat the effects of the coronavirus. The drug, called molnupiravir, will be prescribed to the most vulnerable patients to be taken twice a day. Clinical trials have shown that it roughly halves the risk of hospitalization and death in Covid-19 cases. Molnupiravir was originally developed to treat influenza. UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid believes that the drug could make a significant contribution to the fight against the pandemic, particularly in saving people with fragile health or poorly functioning immune systems.
Molnupiravir is being developed by the American pharmaceutical company Merck in partnership with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. It is the first pill developed against the consequences of COVID-19.
Apparently, Molnupiravir should be used in the early stages of the disease. The drug is designed to disrupt the genetic code of the coronavirus, preventing it from spreading throughout the human body. It works by targeting one of the enzymes the virus uses to replicate itself. Merck claims that the tablet is equally effective against all new variants of Covid-19 – both existing and those that may emerge in the future.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has recommended the use of molnupiravir in patients with mild to moderate symptoms and at least one risk factor, such as a serious underlying condition, being overweight, older age, diabetes or heart problems. MHRA chief executive June Raine said the pill was “another therapeutic tool in our arsenal in the fight against Covid-19”. “This is the world’s first licensed antiviral for this disease that can be taken orally rather than intravenously,” Raine said. “This is important because it can be used outside of the hospital setting, even before Covid-19 progresses to a severe stage.”
The United Kingdom has already ordered 480,000 doses of the drug to be delivered by the end of the year. In previous clinical trials, 775 patients recently diagnosed with COVID-19 participated. The results were as follows: The clinical trial data were published as a press release and were not peer-reviewed. According to the results of the study, for effective use of molnupiravir, it is necessary to take it in the early stages of symptoms. Previously, the manufacturers tried to conduct another study with patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19 symptoms, but it had to be stopped because the drug did not provide significant results. Merck was the first to conduct clinical trials on a COVID pill, but other pharmaceutical companies are working on similar drugs. These include Pfizer, which has started research on two different antiviral tablets, and the Swiss company Roche, which is also developing such a drug.
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