Merck soars 8% before market on Wall Street on $ 81, to storm its historic highs. An experimental oral treatment for Covid-19, molnupiravir, would in fact reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by approximately 50% in patients exposed to the risk of a severe form of the disease, according to the results. provisional reports of a clinical trial published today.
Merck said on Friday that its experimental pill was halving hospitalizations and deaths in people recently infected. The New Jersey laboratory intends to soon ask health authorities in the United States and around the world to authorize the use of the treatment. It would then be the first pill to treat covid, the therapies currently validated in the USA requiring an intravenous or an injection.
Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics therefore indicated that the first study results showed a halving of the risk of hospitalization or death compared to placebo for patients with mild to moderate forms of covid. The interim analysis shows that 7.3% of patients who received molnupiravir were hospitalized until day 29, compared to 14.1% of patients treated with placebo (hospitalized or deceased). There were no deaths in the drug group over this period, compared to eight deaths in the placebo group, according to Merck.
Merck therefore plans to apply for emergency use authorization in the United States as soon as possible and to submit requests to regulators around the world. If approved, molnupiravir could be the first oral antiviral drug for covid. The group is in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration and plans to submit the data for review in the coming days.
The study followed 775 adults with mild to moderate covid who were considered to be at higher risk for serious illness due to health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, or heart disease.
–
