Little by little it seems that science is going to advance in its definitive fight against Covid-19 and to the vaccines already available around the world, an antiviral pill is now being added that could be launched shortly. Let’s learn more about the anticovid pill, what it is like and when it will be on the market.
The first anticovid pill is manufactured: What is it like and when will it be on the market?
An antiviral pill could cut hospitalizations and deaths in half in patients who have contracted Covid-19 , administered in the early stages of the infection.
Molnupiravir is the name of the pill in question and has been produced by the US pharmaceutical company Merck , in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics , which has announced its intention to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA for its acronym in English) ) the approval of the new drug.
The company said it had concluded phase 3 of a clinical trial, after an interim analysis showed that 7.3% of patients who had received the drug had been hospitalized or had died on the 29th, while those who received a placebo the rate increased to 14.1% .
On the other hand, the trial also resulted in that none of the patients who received the pill died in the first 29 days of the clinical trial , while in the placebo group, in the same time interval, 8 people died.
The drug would have been shown to have “consistent” and constant efficacy against all variants of the virus , including the Delta variant, by interfering with an enzyme that the coronavirus uses to copy its genetic code and reproduce, and if approved it would be the first in its life. kind. It can also be taken at home, without the need for hospitalization.
All of the people involved in the study (775 adults) had at least one risk factor, such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease.
At what time could it be available?
If the FDA finally gives its go-ahead in the United States, the pill could be sold as the first large-scale antiviral pill for Covid-19 and administered in small brown capsules to be taken twice a day for five days .
If approved, Merck expects to have 10 million treatment cycles by the end of this year 2021 and it appears that the pill is trusted by the US government, which has even made an advance purchase of 1.7 million. courses of drug treatment at a cost of 1.2 billion dollars.
