(Photo credit: Merck & Co., Inc.)
The Food and Drug Administration has approved Merck’s COVID-19 oral pill, one day after approving Pfizer’s. It is the second known oral pill to be approved for home treatment of the virus.
Merck’s pill, Molnupiravir, will be solely available with a doctor’s prescription, and it is recommended within five days of symptom onset. Additionally, both pills are not substitutions for the vaccine, and in its announcement, the FDA still recommends that people receive the vaccine and booster. Both pills are for individuals with a positive COVID test, and at a high risk for severe symptoms. However, Merck’s is for adults ages 18 and older, compared to Pfizer’s which could be used for those as young as 12 years of age.
Merck conducted a study involving 709 patients – it reported that 6.8% of patients that received its pill died or were hospitalized from receiving the COVID pill compared to 9.7% that received a placebo. In a statement to Merck could begin shipping the 3.1 million courses of Molnupiravir “within days.”