New York: Merck said on Monday that it had submitted a request for US food and drug administration to authorize what would be the first antivirus pill to treat Covid.
Approval for drugs, Molnupiravir, will be a milestone in the war against Coronavus, said experts, because comfortable and relatively cheap treatments can reach more people at high risk of pain with Covid than the treatment of complicated antibodies that are being used.
The Biden government is preparing authorization that can come in a few weeks.
If approved, the pill is likely to be allocated to state, as well as the vaccine.
Countries can then distribute the pills they want, administrative officials said.
If the pill wins authorization, tens of millions of Americans will most likely be eligible to take it if they are sick with Covid – more than the supply that can be closed, at least at first.
The federal government has placed an advance order for sufficient pills for 1.7 million Americans, at a price of around $ 700 per patient.
It’s about a third of the price paid by the government for monoclonal antibody care, which is generally given through intravenous infusion.
Merck hopes to produce enough pills for 10 million people at the end of the year.
The government has raced to lock the supply because the results of a strong trial were released this month; Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea have announced an agreement.
Antivirus pills developed by Pfizer and one of the Atea Pharmaceuticals-Roche will report the results of studies in the following months and, if it is effective, it can expand the supply of Merck pills intended to be taken at home as four capsules twice a day for five days, for a total of 40 pill.
It divides two hospitalizations and deaths in the trial that enrolled unbaccinated adults who have begun to show covid symptoms in the previous five days and are at high risk for poor results of disease.
Merck said that being looking for authorization for the pill was only given to high-risk adults, which in the most frequent clinical trials were more than 60 or young people with obesity, diabetes or heart disease.