Paris: France has canceled its order for Covid-19 antivirus drugs Merck & Co along the disappointing trial data and hopes to accept the Pfizer competitor drug before the end of January, the Minister of Health said on Wednesday.
France is the first country to say publicly around 30%.
“The latest study is not good,” Olivier Veran told BFM TV.
Merck did not immediately respond to Reuters comment requests.
While the vaccine is the main weapon against Covid-19 for the government, there is hope of the experimental pill Merck and Pfizer can be a game-changer in reducing the chances of death or hospitalization for those who are most at risk of illness.
France has booked the start for 50,000 molnupiravir drug doses developed by Merck and Biotherapeutics Ridgeback.
Cancellation will not be charged, Veran said.
In Italy, the Special Commissioner for Emergency Covid said on November 18 it had received the mandate from the Ministry of Health to buy 50,000 Merck and 50,000 Pfizer pill courses.
“The contract has not been completed, but is underway,” a spokesman for the commissioner told Reuters on Tuesday.
Italian medicine regulator AIFA Head Nicola Magrini told the Senate Committee on December 9, both treatments can be available in Italy from the end of January.
However, regardless of the availability of drugs, there will be an assessment of its use, the top two scientific advisors told Reuters.
“It must and there will be an evaluation, independently of the assessment of the regulatory body,” Walter Ricciardi, the main adviser of Health Minister Roberto Speranza, told Reuters.
Germany has purchased the treatment of Antivirus Merck, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach told Reuters on Wednesday.
“This is a binding command,” he said, added Berlin also in talks with Pfizer about buying an antivirus drug.
The European Medicine Agency is expected to decide whether to approve Merck and Pfizer pills in the new year.
Paxlovid Pfizer has shown a 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalization and Covid-19 death in high-risk patients.
France has bought the medicine instead, the Veran said, without saying how many doses have been secured.
“France marched to get it before the end of January,” continued the Veran.
It has not been decided whether the drug will be available on the table at the pharmacy, the Minister said.