Merck’s Covid Pill Approved by FDA for High-Risk Adults


A Merck executive, Dr. Dean Li said on Thursday that preliminary laboratory studies had shown the drug to be equally effective against Omicron as it was against previous versions of the virus. The company and independent researchers are conducting experiments on how well the drug can stop the proliferation of the Omicron variant.

Merck and Pfizer pills can be taken at home and are expected to reach many more people worldwide than monoclonal antibody treatments typically given by intravenous infusions by a healthcare provider.

Until this week, antibody drugs were the only authorized treatment option for Covid patients at high risk of becoming seriously ill. But Omicron’s caused damage about the country’s supply of antibodies.

On Thursday, the federal government paused The distribution of treatments from Regeneron and Eli Lilly are unlikely to work against Omicron, he said. These treatments represented nearly the entire supply of the country. The only remaining potent antibody therapy against the new variant from GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology is in very limited supply. for now.

Experts said that in this context, the value of the Merck pill has increased.

Director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research at Boston University, Dr. “Everything that keeps people out of the hospital has a role, albeit gradually,” said Nahid Bhadelia.

In early November, the Delta variant began causing an increase in coronavirus cases, particularly in the Midwest and Northeast. Omicron, which has rapidly become the dominant form of new cases in the United States, is now on the rise.

Merck’s treatment is intended to be taken as 40 pills for five days. The company is ready to ship the first 378,000 courses to the United States in a matter of days. Merck is expected to fulfill the federal government’s order of pills for 3.1 million people by the end of January, at a cost of approximately $700 per person.



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