The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Merck & Co’s antiviral pill for high-risk adult patients of COVID-19, just 24 hours after authorizing another treatment from Pfizer for high-risk patients who are 12 years of age or older.
According to Reuters, the US health authority has given the go-ahead to Merck’s promising drug as a hedge against mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in individuals who are at risk for severe disease, and for whom typical COVID-19 treatments are not available.
In a clinical trial of high-risk individuals early in the course of the illness, Merck’s new pill was proven to reduce hospitalizations and fatalities by roughly 30%. The oral medication has been approved by FDA for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults who are at risk of developing severe disease and for whom no other coronavirus therapies are available or are clinically appropriate.
So far, experts agree that pills from both Merck and Pfizer are expected to offer a good amount of support against the Omicron variant, which is now considered to be highly contagious in the United States and other parts of the world as well.
Moreover, the subsisting monoclonal therapies given at hospitals to improve immunity are not very effective against Omicron. It should be noted that Merck’s new “anti-pandemic pill” has yet to receive approval for treating patients below 18 years of age as the drug halts bone and cartilage maturity, said the FDA in a statement.
It is pertinent to note that the drug is meant to be taken twice a day – four pills each time – for five days, making a full treatment course of 40 pills.
How does it work?
Merck’s medication slows the coronavirus’s reproduction by inserting small mutations into its genetic coding. Concerns have been expressed that the treatment could create abnormalities in human babies and perhaps lead to more virulent strains of the virus as a result of this genetic influence. The variation danger, however, is primarily theoretical, according to FDA scientists, because people take the medicine for such a short amount of time.
Merck’s senior vice president for clinical development, Dr. Nick Kartsonis, commented that the company’s scientists are still examining the medicine and expect to have it approved for use in children in the future.
