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A new CoV drug from U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck significantly reduces the likelihood of very severe courses in high-risk patients, according to a clinical study.
The company, which is also known as MSD, said today that it plans to seek approval for use in the U.S. as soon as possible and will also submit applications to authorities worldwide. The drug is administered as a tablet.
In the study, CoV patients with mild to moderate symptoms treated with a placebo were hospitalized or died within 29 days in 14.1 percent of cases, Merck explained. In the group of patients treated with the drug molnupiravir, the rate was about half, at 7.3 percent, it said.
The figures are based on an analysis of data from 775 patients. All subjects had at least one risk factor that made a severe course likely. In the test group that received the Merck drug, there had been no deaths during the study period.
Meanwhile, eight people who received the placebo died, he said. Merck shares were up about eight percent at one point in premarket trading.
In the EU, there is only one officially approved CoV drug, Remdesivir. Some others are nevertheless already in use, for example dexamethasone and antibody drugs.
— source: orf.at/picture:pixabay.com
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