Merck’s pill cuts hospitalisations by around 50%

WASHINGTON: Pharmaceutical company Merck said Friday it will seek authorisation in the United States of its oral drug molnupiravir for Covid-19 after it was shown to reduce the chance newly infected patients were hospitalised by 50%.

A simple pill to treat Covid-19 has been sought since the start of the pandemic and Friday’s announcement was hailed as a major step towards that goal.

“With these compelling results, we are optimistic that molnupiravir can become an important medicine as part of the global effort to fight the pandemic,” said Robert Davis, the company’s CEO and president.

Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford, called the interim results “very encouraging.” He added: “A safe, affordable, and effective oral antiviral would be a huge advance in the fight against Covid.”

But experts stressed that if eventually approved the drug should complement highly effective vaccines, rather than be taken instead of them.

Compelling results

In a late stage clinical trial, Merck and its partner Ridgeback Therapeutics evaluated data from 775 patients – roughly half of whom received either a five-day course of the pill, while the other received a placebo.

All the patients had lab-confirmed Covid-19 with symptoms that developed within five days of them being assigned to their respective groups.

Of the patients who received molnupiravir, 7.3% were hospitalised by day 29, compared to 14.1% of those on a placebo – a relative risk reduction of around 50%. There were also eight deaths in the placebo group but, significantly, none in the drug group.

Merck said it plans to submit an application for an Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) to the FDA as soon as possible and plans to submit marketing applications to other regulatory bodies worldwide.

Response from the medical community was favourable, with some notes of caution.

“This is no substitute for vaccination. It’s not a miracle cure but a companion tool,” tweeted Peter Hotez, dean of Texas Children’s Hospital.

Experts also said it would be crucial to administer the drug early. Since it isn’t always clear who is at risk for developing severe disease, it would have the greatest impact if it is cheap enough to distribute widely.