Merck gets UK nod, world's first Covid pill ready to be out soon

US advisors to meet this month to vote on authorisation

Britain on Thursday became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing Covid-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by US-based Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a boost to the fight against the pandemic.

Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended the drug, molnupiravir, for use in people with mild to moderate Covid-19 and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, older age diabetes, and heart disease.

It will be administered as soon as possible following a positive Covid-19 test and within five days of the onset of symptoms, the regulator said, citing clinical data.

The green light is the first for an oral antiviral treatment for Covid-19 and the first for a Covid-19 drug that will be administered widely in the community. US advisors will meet this month to vote on whether molnupiravir should be authorised.

Merck’s Molnupiravir has been closely watched since data last month showed it could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for those most at risk of developing severe Covid-19 when given early in the illness.

Molnupiravir, which will be branded as Lagevrio in Britain, is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus  that causes Covid-19 and is taken twice a day for five days.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service (NHS) in England, said the drug would be administered to patients at higher risk of complications as Britain heads into one of the most challenging winters ever.

China reaffirms 0-Covid policy amid fresh cases

China reported 50 new local Covid-19 infections on Saturday, as authorities said stringent curbs will remain to disrupt the virus’s domestic transmission. China is the only country still tethered to the so-called Covid-Zero strategy, as other nations from Australia to Singapore pivot from trying to eliminate the virus to learning to treat it as endemic. Hebei province, which is close proximity to Beijing, reported 21 new cases. Chinese authorities are ring-fencing the capital city against the escalating pandemic outbreak.