Merck announced its COVID-19 pill halved recent patient deaths and hospitalizations

The pharmaceutical company Merck announced this Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill halved hospitalizations and deaths among people recently infected with the coronavirus.

Merck said that will soon ask health authorities in the United States and around the world to authorize its use. The drug would be the first pill available to treat COVID-19, a potentially important advance in efforts to fight the pandemic.

The results of the study were published by the company and have not been peer reviewed. An independent group of medical advisers who oversaw the trial recommended stopping it early because intermediate results have been very strong.

According to Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, the first results showed that patients who received the medicine, called molnupiravir, within five days of symptom onset had an almost 50% lower hospitalization rate than those who received placebo. The study involved 775 adults with mild or moderate symptoms of COVID-19 who were considered to be at high risk of developing serious illness due to previous health problems such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease.

Of those who took molnupiravir, 7.3% were hospitalized or died after 30 days, compared to 14.1% of the control group. In the first group, no deaths were reported after this period, compared to eight in the second, Merck explained. The company said it plans to present the results at a medical conference.

Both groups that participated in the study reported side effects, but these were slightly more common in those who received the placebo. The pharmacist did not explain what these problems were.

Previous studies have shown that the drug did not help those who had previously been hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19.

“Oral antivirals not only have the potential to reduce the duration of symptoms in a case of COVID-19, but also to limit the transmission of the virus to others. at home, ”said Timothy Sheahan, one of the project researchers.

The medical could be compared to the known world Tamiflu, which is used for influenza, or with treatments that are used successfully for HIV and hepatitis C. So far, the FDA has only approved one antiviral treatment for COVID 19, the remdesivir, but this is administered intravenously, in hospitals, in already severe cases. The pill would be something much simpler, accessible to all types of patients.

The lab has confirmed that they have mass production of the drug going on. Once you receive emergency approval from federal health authorities, distribution to pharmacies nationwide could be immediate. Merck executives have confirmed that the company has the capacity to produce up to 10 million treatments by 2021.

(With AP information)

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