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Australia, Thailand to buy Merck's COVID-19 pill
Molnupiravir, which would be the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19 if it gets regulatory approval, could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for people most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19, according to experts.
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This handout photo obtained May 26, 2021, courtesy of Pharmaceutical company Merck shows capsules of the experimental antiviral drug Molnupiravir. Merck said on October 1, 2021, it will seek authorization in the US for molnupiravir for Covid-19, after the pill showed (AFP/Handout)
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ustralia will buy 300,000 courses of Merck & Co's experimental antiviral pill, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Tuesday, as Victoria logged the highest number of daily COVID-19 infections of any state in the country since the pandemic began.
Molnupiravir, which would be the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19 if it gets regulatory approval, could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for people most at risk of contracting severe COVID-19, according to experts.
"These treatments mean that we are going to be able to live with the virus," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Nine News on Tuesday as Australia aims to reopen its borders next month for fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents.
Molnupiravir capsules have to be taken twice a day for five days by adult patients for a course of 10, Morrison said.
The drug is expected to be available in Australia by early next year if approved by the country's drug regulator, Morrison said. Merck expects to produce 10 million courses of the treatment by the end of 2021.
South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia have all said they are in talks to buy the potential treatment, while the Philippines is running a trial on the pill.
Australia, meanwhile, is stepping up its vaccination rate, with Sydney and Melbourne, its largest cities, and the capital Canberra enduring a weeks-long lockdown to combat the highly infectious Delta variant. The national first-dose rate in the adult population topped 80 percent on Tuesday morning.
