A New Form of COVID-19 Treatment: Merck’s Pill

A new tool may soon be introduced to the scope of coronavirus treatments; drugmaker Merck’s COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, offers a glimpse of hope for the future.

Molnupiravir is an antiviral pill which intends to stop mild to moderate COVID-19 cases from reaching a point of severity that requires hospitalization or may be life threatening. Those infected with COVID-19 must take four molnupiravir pills twice a day for a duration of five days, starting within the first five days of symptom-onset.

As mentioned in a Washington Post article, molnupiravir recently went through an international clinical trial; the participants consisted of 775 high-risk, unvaccinated people. The result was a 50% lower risk of hospitalization and fatalities. Another trial found that the pill may help reduce the spread of COVID-19 by lessening the time it takes for the virus to clear from the nose and throat.

Molnupiravir also stands out in its ease of use. It can be prescribed just like any other pill and is taken at home. This will be very helpful for hospitals, as access to the pill will hopefully open more space for other patients.

However, experts note that vaccines are still the best, most effective way to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s important to remember that it is better to protect people from being infected by the virus in the first place than to treat it after getting it.

Merck is currently demanding emergency authorization for the use of molnupiravir after its clinical trial ended early due to its great performance. An advisory committee from the FDA is set to meet on November 30 to consider the request; however, it remains unclear when exactly molnupiravir will become available to the public or who will be able to receive it. 

While molnupiravir is not yet available, countries around the world are already scrambling to procure the new drug. Merk recently stated that they plan to request emergency use or marketing authorization in countries outside of the United States sometime soon. At least eight countries and territories in the Asia-Pacific area are either set to get shipments of molnupiravir when it releases or are on their way to doing so, vowing not to make the same mistake as last time of waiting to purchase the vaccine. 

Overall, molnupiravir is predicted to be a game changer in the battle against COVID-19; hopefully, it will provide assistance in slowing the spread of the virus that has drastically changed our daily lives.