Soon pills to swallow to reduce the risk of hospitalization?

The European Medicines Agency announced on Monday that it would launch the accelerated review of the Covid-19 pill by the US laboratory Merck.

This step, paving the way for a possible next application for authorization in the European Union of the treatment taken by tablets, comes two weeks after Merck requested an urgent authorization in the United States of this drug.

“The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has launched an ongoing review of the oral antiviral drug molnupiravir (…) developed by Merck (…) for the treatment of Covid-19 in adults”, which allows us to 'speed up the procedure, the European regulator based in Amsterdam said in a statement.

A medicine to take a few days after a positive test

Antivirals like molnupiravir work by decreasing the ability of a virus to replicate, thereby slowing down the disease.

Given to patients within days of a positive test, the treatment halves the risk of hospitalization, according to a clinical trial conducted by Merck.

Preliminary results from laboratory and clinical studies “suggest that the drug may reduce the ability of SARS-CoV-2 (…) to multiply in the body, thus preventing hospitalization or death in affected patients. of Covid-19 ”, specified the EMA.

The EMA will assess the compliance of molnupiravir with the usual European standards for efficacy, safety and quality.

Home treatment

A continuous review is a regulatory tool that the European regulator uses to speed up the evaluation of a promising drug or vaccine during a public health emergency.

If approved, molnupiravir would therefore represent a major breakthrough in making it possible to reduce severe forms of the disease quite easily.

This type of treatment to treat the coronavirus, which can be taken at home with a glass of water, has been sought after since the start of the pandemic.

Our file on the coroanvirus 

Merck's announcement in the United States two weeks ago was hailed as a major step towards this goal.

But experts have warned that this treatment is not a silver bullet and should complement vaccines, not replace them.

Merck is also in the process of conducting a separate clinical trial for a second use of the treatment, as a preventive measure for people who have been in close contact with the virus so as not to develop it.

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