It can be used in patients who have tested positive and who have at least one risk factor for developing a serious disease. The drug should be given immediately after testing positive or within five days of confirmation of infection.
The health authorities of the United Kingdom have approved the use of the first antiviral pill against covid-19, molnupiravir, which can be used in patients who have tested positive and who have at least one risk factor for developing a serious disease .
The Medicines Regulatory Agency (MHRA, for its acronym in English) has considered in a statement that the drug is “safe and effective in reducing the risk of hospital admission and death in people with mild to moderate COVID who suffer an extra risk.”
The British Minister for Health, Sayid Javid, highlighted in an intervention on social networks that it is a “historic day” for the United Kingdom, becoming “the first country in the world to approve an antiviral for covid that can be taken home.”
Brilliant to hear @MHRAgovuk has approved the world’s first antiviral pill for Covid – molnupiravir.
Along with the vital protection provided by our vaccines, this treatment can prevent those who are most at risk from becoming seriously ill with Covid. https://t.co/uOQwZz5pqa
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 4, 2021
This drug is recommended, for example, for obese people, over 60 years old and patients with diabetes or heart problems.
The MHRA has indicated that the drug should be given immediately after testing positive for COVID or within five days of confirmation of infection.
Regulators’ recommendation is that the pill, originally developed to treat the flu, be taken by these vulnerable people twice daily.
Molnupiravir has been developed by US pharmaceutical companies Merck y Ridgeback Biotherapeutic, and it is the first drug for the treatment of covid that can be taken in pill form instead of an injection.
The drug attacks an enzyme that the virus uses to make copies of itself, preventing its multiplication and keeping the viral load at low levels in the body, thereby reducing the severity of the disease.
The CEO of the British regulator, June Raine, has called the drug “another therapy for our armor against covid-19”, adding that its approval is important because it can be taken outside the hospital setting.
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
