Merck says experimental pills can mitigate the worst effects of Covid-19-News

Merck said on Friday that its experimental Covid-19 pill has halved the number of hospitalizations and deaths of people who have recently contracted the coronavirus and will soon require health officials in the United States and around the world to authorize the use of the drug.

If approved, Merck’s drug will become the first pill to treat Covid-19, which may be a major advance in the fight against the pandemic. All Covid-19 treatments now licensed in the United States require intravenous or injection.

Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said that early results show that within five days of the onset of Covid-19 symptoms, the hospitalization rate and death rate of patients receiving the drug called monelavir are about the same as those of patients receiving counterfeit drugs. Half of it.

The study tracked 775 adults with mild to moderate Covid-19 who are considered to be at higher risk of serious illness due to health problems such as obesity, diabetes or heart disease.

Among patients taking monelavir, 7.3% were hospitalized or died at the end of 30 days, compared with 14.1% of patients taking fake pills.

According to Merck, there were no deaths in the drug group after this period of time, while 8 people in the placebo group died. The results are published by the company and have not been peer reviewed. Merck said it plans to show them at future medical conferences.

The panel of independent medical experts monitoring the trial recommends stopping the trial as soon as possible because the interim results are very good. Company executives said they are in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration and plan to submit data for review in the next few days.

Dr. Dean Li, Vice President of Research at Merck, said: “This is beyond what I think the drug might play in this clinical trial.” “When you see a 50% reduction in hospitalizations or deaths, this is a significant clinical impact. .”

In the Merck trial, side effects were reported in both groups, but in the group that received fake pills, side effects were slightly more common. The company did not specify the problem.

Early research results indicate that the drug is not beneficial to patients who have been hospitalized for serious illnesses.

The U.S. approved a Antiviral drug, Remdesivir, specifically for Covid-19, And allow emergency use of three antibody therapies that help the immune system fight the virus. But all drugs must be administered intravenously or by injection in a hospital or medical clinic, and the recent surge in delta variants has caused tight supply.

Health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top infectious disease expert in the United States, have long called for the development of a convenient pill that patients can take when Covid-19 symptoms first appear, just like flu drugs that have been used for decades Tamiflu helps fight the flu the same. Such drugs are seen as the key to controlling future waves of infections and reducing the impact of the pandemic.

Merck’s pills work by interfering with enzymes that the coronavirus uses to replicate its genetic code and reproduce itself. It also shows similar activity against other viruses.

If authorized by the FDA, the US government has pledged to purchase 1.7 million doses of the drug. Merck said it can produce 10 million doses by the end of this year and has signed contracts with governments around the world. The company has not yet announced the price.

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Several other companies, including Pfizer and Roche, are investigating similar drugs, which may report results in the coming weeks and months.

Before the independent committee is stopped early, Merck plans to recruit more than 1,500 patients in its late-stage trials. The results reported on Friday included patients recruited in Latin America, Europe and Africa.Executives estimate that approximately 10% of study patients are from the United States