Britain Becomes First Country Globally to Approve Innovative Covid 19 Antiviral Pill
- An innovative new drug to boost the fight against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic has been approved
- Britain becomes the first country in the world to authorise the molnupiravir drug ahead of the US
- The treatment is reportedly designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19
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UNITED KINGDOM - Britain has set the trend in the race to beat the Covid-19 pandemic after authorising an antiviral pill in a move likely to be a world first.
The treatment is collaboratively developed by Merck & Co., Inc., an American multinational pharmaceutical company, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. Covid-19 has, so far, killed more than 5.2 million people globally.
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Reuters reported that Britain's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended the molnupiravir drug for use in people suffering from mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms.
In addition, the drug, which is also being studied in a late-stage trial for preventing infection, can be used in people with at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, including obesity and heart disease, among others.
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It is the first time an oral antiviral treatment for Covid-19 has been approved. Briefly News has it on good authority that U.S. advisers will meet in due course to vote on whether the drug should be authorised.
Intensified approach to fight coronavirus
According to AP, it is thought the pioneering drug could help to reduce symptoms and promote quicker recovery, which will ease caseloads on hospitals while helping to curb outbreaks in economically challenged countries.
Naturally, this would also bolster the two-pronged approach to the pandemic: treatment, by way of medication, and prevention, primarily through vaccinations.
Molnupiravir, which will be branded as Lagevrio in Britain, is reportedly designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
The speedy approval of the potentially ground-breaking treatment in Britain, which, incidentally, was also the first Western country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, comes as it struggles to tame soaring infections.
Pills & potions: SA set to begin trials for pill-based Covid-19 vaccine
In related news, Briefly News reported that an Israeli pharmaceutical company has approved the trial of oral coronavirus vaccines on South African shores.
The small pills are expected to be an easy alternative to the vaccine shots South Africans have been receiving, and with only 30 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, will come as a welcome development.
The pills manufactured by Oramed Pharmaceuticals will arrive in Mzansi next month and undergo Phase 1 trials, Times of Israel reported.
Some experts believe this pill could be an easy alternative to reluctant vaxxers, especially those with a fear of needles.
Experts believe encouraging peeps to take the pill will be a lot easier, The South African reported. The pills will also be a lot easier to store and transport.
Source: Briefly News
