Britain’s antiviral taskforce chair Eddie Gray hinted at Britain’s interest in buying the molnupiravir, an experimental oral COVID-19 drug developed by Merck & Co Inc.
While Gray declined to comment directly on any potential talks being held between Britain and Merck & Co Inc, he did mention the following: “We are involved in looking closely at all of the options available, but we’re really not in a position to give out the details around specific conversations at this moment in time.”
He also explained that data found during Merck & Co Inc’s phase III trial suggested that any processes regarding the oral drug would be accelerated.
Intermin clinical trial results that were released on Thursday showed that molnupiravir was able to reduce the likelihood of COVID-19-induced hospitalization and death by around 50%.
Merck & Co Inc, along with partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is seeking U.S. emergency use authorization for the pill while also submitting applications to regulatory bodies worldwide.
Should approval be received, molnupiravir will become the world’s first oral medication against COVID-19 to be introduced into the market. Daria Hazuda, Merck’s vice president for infectious diseases discovery, confirmed that the company is working as fast as it can in order to make the drug available in the UK.
