Merck & Co Inc said on Monday it has applied for US emergency use authorisation for its drug to treat mild-to-moderate patients of Covid-19, putting it on course to become the first oral antiviral medication for the disease.
An authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration could help change clinical management of Covid-19 as the pill can be taken at home.
The treatment, molnupiravir, cut the rate of hospitalization and death by 50% in a trial of mild-to-moderately ill patients who had at least one risk factor for the disease, according to data released earlier this month.
The interim efficacy data on the drug, developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, had heavily dented the shares of Covid-19 vaccine makers and set off a scramble among nations, including Malaysia, South Korea and Singapore, to sign a supply deal with Merck.