Anti-Covid Pill "Active" Against Omicron: Merck
NDTV
The oral treatment is taken within five days of symptom onset and was shown in a pre-Omicron trial of 1,400 participants to reduce Covid hospitalizations and deaths by 30 percent among at-risk people.
Merck's anti-Covid pill remains "active" against the Omicron variant, the US drugmaker said Friday, citing results from six laboratory studies.
The oral treatment, called molnupiravir, is taken within five days of symptom onset and was shown in a pre-Omicron trial of 1,400 participants to reduce Covid hospitalizations and deaths by 30 percent among at-risk people.
The latest in vitro studies, based on cell-based assays, were conducted independently by researchers in six countries: Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands and the United States.
The results show "that molnupiravir has consistent antiviral activity against Omicron, the primary variant circulating globally," said Dr. Dean Y Li, the president of Merck Research Laboratories, in a statement.