Though the Covid-19 pandemic has been around for close to 2 years now, a cure hasn’t been found for the coronavirus.
But that might soon be a thing of the past as US pharmaceutical firm Merck is testing a potentially ground-breaking pill that’s reportedly effective against all variants.
On Wednesday (6 Oct), Merck announced that Singapore has signed an agreement that will give us access to the drug if it’s approved.
The drug is currently awaiting results for 2 Phase 3 trials, the earlier of which is slated to be released next month.
In a media release, Merck announced that it had entered a supply & purchase agreement with Singapore.
This essentially gives Singapore access to the drug, known as molnupiravir, if it’s authorised or approved.
Molnupiravir comes in pill form and works by preventing the Covid-19 virus from duplicating itself. It does so by introducing ‘errors’ into the virus’ genetic code, reports The Straits Times.
Another promising feature is that the pill is reportedly effective against multiple variants of the coronavirus, including Delta and Gamma.
If approved, molnupiravir will be the first antiviral medication for Covid-19 that’s administered orally.
However, the medication appears to work only during early onset of Covid-19, that is, within 5 days of being infected.
This might affect its potential uses and it would have to be simple and cheap to obtain if it were to prove useful.
Molnupiravir, developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is currently undergoing 2 Phase 3 clinical trials.
One of them involve patients with at least one risk factor that are associated with a poorer disease outcome. These include:
The other Phase 3 trial is studying molnupiravir’s effectiveness as a preventive drug, and in particular, how it can curb Covid-19 transmissions within a household setting.
The results for the 1st and 2nd trial are expected to be released in Nov 2021 and the first half of next year respectively.
In another late-stage clinical trial involving 775 patients, molnupiravir was found to have halved hospitalisation rates.
The placebo group, which comprised half of the 775 patients reported 8 deaths while none were reported in the group which received the drug.
The prospect of a Covid-19 treatment that can be consumed orally at home is game-changing, to say the least.
Hopefully, the drug will receive the necessary approval and authorisation and that it will be available in Singapore in due time.
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Featured image adapted from Nova Radio MX on Flickr and Sanford Health News.
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