The first ever anti-viral pill for Covid-19 has been approved for use in the UK.
Molnupiravir is for people who have had a positive Covid test and have at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, being over the age of 60, diabetes or heart disease.
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The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said the drug is safe and effective (where have we heard that before?) at reducing the risk of hospital admission and death in people with mild to moderate Covid.
BBC reports: In clinical trials the pill, originally developed to treat flu, cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the treatment was a “gamechanger” for the most frail and immunosuppressed.
In a statement he said: “Today is a historic day for our country, as the UK is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for Covid.”
First oral treatment
Molnupiravir, developed by the US drug companies Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is the first antiviral medication for Covid which can be taken as a pill rather than injected or given intravenously.
The UK has agreed to purchase 480,000 courses with the first deliveries expected in November.
Initially it will be given to both vaccinated and unvaccinated patients through a national study, with extra data on its effectiveness collected before any decision to order more.
The drug needs to be given within five days of symptoms developing to be most effective.
It’s not immediately clear how it will be distributed so quickly by the NHS. It’s thought some care homes may be offered supplies while other elderly or vulnerable patients may be prescribed it by their GP after testing positive for Covid.
The new treatment targets an enzyme that the virus uses to make copies of itself, introducing errors into its genetic code. That should prevent it from multiplying, so keeping virus levels low in the body and reducing the severity of the disease.
Merck said that approach should make the treatment equally effective against new variants of the virus as it evolves in the future.
The UK regulator, the MHRA, said the tablet had been authorised for use in people who have mild to moderate Covid and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness such as obesity, old age, diabetes or heart disease.
The organisation’s chief executive, June Raine, described it as “another therapeutic to add to our armoury against Covid-19”.
“It is the world’s first approved antiviral for this disease that can be taken by mouth rather than administered intravenously,” she said.
“This is important, because it means it can be administered outside of a hospital setting, before Covid-19 has progressed to a severe stage.”
Niamh Harris
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Not buying what you’re selling
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I’m sure it’s Ivermectine in a new package.