The United Kingdom announced that it reached agreements for two antivirals against COVID-19, one developed by Merck and the other by Pfizer, which it said could be used to treat patients by the end of the year if regulatory approval is granted.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has lifted nearly all coronavirus-related restrictions and is turning to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments to try to withstand the pressure that winter puts on hospitals, given the high number of cases with more than 40,000 new infections a day.
“We may soon have a new defense in our arsenal with two new antiviral drugs that we have come up with,” Health Minister Sajid Javid said in a statement.
The UK reported that it had obtained 480,000 doses of molnupiravir from Merck, an antiviral pill that can be used in out-of-hospital patients.
The drug reduced the rate of hospitalization and death by 50% in patients with mild or moderate illnesses who had at least one risk factor for the disease, according to data from the trial published earlier this month.
If approved, molnupiravir, which Merck is developing with partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, could become the first oral antiviral drug for COVID-19.
Pfizer is also rushing to develop an easy-to-administer antiviral pill against COVID-19, and last month began a large-scale study of its investigational oral antiviral drug for the prevention of COVID-19 in people exposed to the virus.
In the trial, PF-07321332, designed to block the activity of a key enzyme necessary for the coronavirus to multiply, will be given in conjunction with a low-dose ritonavir, an older drug widely used in combination treatments for infection with HIV
The UK said it had gotten 250,000 doses of the antiviral PF-07321332 / ritonavir.
Pricing for either order has not been disclosed. Both Merck and Pfizer antivirals will need approval from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before being used, the government said.
A national study will also be created to gather more data on the effectiveness of antivirals, he added.
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