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The United Kingdom on Thursday became the first country to authorize an anti-Covid-19 tablet: molnupiravir. This treatment from the American laboratory Merck is considered a crucial tool in the fight against the pandemic.
The first anti-Covid tablets arrive on the market: the United Kingdom becomes, Thursday, November 4, the first country to authorize a tablet for the treatment of Covid-19 by authorizing molnupiravir. Developed by the American laboratory Merck and considered a crucial tool in the fight against the pandemic, the remedy is still under study by the United States and the European Union.
While Europe is experiencing a significant recovery in contaminations, these pills which can be taken with a simple glass of water bring considerable hope to relieve hospital wards during the winter.
“This is a historic day for our country as the UK is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home against Covid-19,” said Health Minister Sajid Javid, in a statement. “It will be a game-changer for the most vulnerable and the immunocompromised, who will soon be able to receive the revolutionary treatment.”
Marketed as Lagevrio, molnupiravir has been cleared by the UK Medicines Agency, MHRA, for use in people with mild to moderate Covid-19 and with at least one risk factor for developing disease. severe (such as obesity, being over 60, diabetes or heart disease).
Health authorities recommend that it be taken “as soon as possible after a positive test,” said the Ministry of Health.
Antivirals like molnupiravir work by decreasing the ability of a virus to replicate, thereby slowing down the disease.
Their application can be twofold: both to allow people already affected not to suffer from serious symptoms, but also to those in close contact not to develop the disease.
Administered to patients within days of a positive test, the treatment halves the risk of hospitalization, according to a clinical trial by Merck. The lab is also called MSD outside of the United States.
Pressure on hospitals due to a record of contamination
The British government, faced with Covid-19 contamination rates among the highest in the world in recent months, announced on October 20 that it had ordered 480,000 treatments of molnupiravir. He also signed a contract for 250,000 treatments of ritonavir, another antiviral from the American laboratory Pfizer already used against HIV, the efficacy of which against the coronavirus is the subject of clinical trials.
These treatments are intended for patients deemed to be most at risk, in order to reduce the pressure on hospitals which is increasing in the United Kingdom, which has recorded more than 140,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The country records a thousand hospitalizations per day and more than 9,000 patients are currently hospitalized because of the Covid-19. Even if it remains far from the peaks of the last waves, it raises fears of a difficult situation this winter.
Approved, molnupiravir represents a major advance in making it possible to reduce severe forms of the disease quite easily. This type of treatment has been sought since the start of the pandemic.
Under study by Washington and Brussels
Merck’s announcement of clinical trial results in early October was hailed as a major step towards this goal.
But experts have warned that this treatment is not a silver bullet and should complement vaccines, not replace them.
The drug regulatory authorities in the United States and the European Union have initiated an evaluation of this drug.
Merck has already started large-scale production of molnupiravir and plans to manufacture the doses needed for 10 million treatments by the end of the year. And the group has already made agreements with certain governments, including Washington (1.7 million treatments planned) and Paris (50,000 doses planned).
Its price is steep, however: the order placed by the United States revealed the cost of $ 700 per dose.
Merck is also in the process of conducting a separate clinical trial for a second use of the treatment, as a preventative measure for people who have been in close contact with the virus so as not to develop it.
The biotech Atea Pharmaceuticals and the Roche laboratory are evaluating the effectiveness of a comparable treatment. Finally, Pfizer is developing a drug combining two molecules, including ritonavir.
With AFP
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