Aiming to end the vaccination process, Merck pharmaceutical says the trial suggests its pill for serious covid-19 cases can reduce hospitalization and fatalities by half.
The claim has been made on the basis of the interim clinical trial. The pill named molnupiravir was given to freshly infected patients twice daily.
Merck claims the results of the molnupiravir pill were so impressive that the clinical trial stopped earlier at the request of the third-party monitors.
Read Also
Every Year 0.25m People Die of Heart Diseases in Pakistan
The drugmaker will apply to get permission for medicine’s usage in the US for emergency use.
Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Adviser to US President Joe Biden, also endorsed the good results of under-trial drug but urged caution until final approval by Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Some 775 covid-infected patients took part in the trial conducted by Merck.
Some 7.3% of participants given molnupiravir were hospitalized compared to 14.1% of patients who were given a placebo pill.
None of the patients who took the oral drug died but 8 who were given a dummy pill instead of molnupiravir later succumbed to the pandemic virus.
However, the data was only published in a press release of Merck and has not been reviewed by peers yet.
If approved following the trial results, the molnupiravir pill will be the first oral treatment for covid-19.