Merck Company seeks approval of the antidote against Coved

If approved by the Food and Bars Administration (FDA), a decision that can be made within a few weeks, this would become the first pill - shaped drug to fight the disease. All the other FDA-backed treatments against COVIDD-19 are administered intravenous ways.

One antiviral pill that people can take home to reduce symptoms and accelerate recovery can be a very important achievement that would ease the burden on American hospitals and help curb infections in poorer countries that have a weak health care system. The approach to two fronts against pandemics will also be encouraged: treatment through medicine and prevention mainly through vaccine.

The FDA will review the company's data on the safety and efficiency of the drug, called the Mopupiravir, before making a decision.

Merck Company and partner company Ridgeback Biotherapetic said they have asked the agency The FDA gives authorization to emergency use for mild - age or moderate adults from COVID-19a who are in danger of becoming seriously ill or hospitalised. These are more or less the conditions in which intravenous drugs are currently used.

In this case, there is the value of being a pill for which you should not go to transfusion centers and all the difficulties that this means”, says Dr. Nicholas Cartsons, vice president of Merck Company's infectious disease division. I think it's a very powerful tool to add arsenal”.

The company announced earlier this month that the drug halved hospitalizations and death cases among early patients of COVID-19. The results were so strong that independent medical experts monitoring the evidence recommended their premature halt.

The side effects were similar among patients who took the medicine and those in a test group who received a false opening. But Merck company has not publicly exposed the types of reported problems, which will become an important part of the FDA review.

Senior American health officials continue to recommend vaculation as the best way to protect against COVID-19a.

The “is much, much better to prevent the disease than you need to cure the” infection, Dr. Anthony Faucie last week while discussing Merck Company medicine.

Some 68 million Americans who qualify to be vaccinated have not yet been vaccinated, thus highlighting the need for effective drugs that will control future waves of the disease.

A Anti - Medicine Option COVID-19a comes along with other encouraging signs. New daily cases in the United States have dropped below the average of 100,000 for the first time in nearly two months. Deaths have also dropped to about 1700 a day, compared to 2,000 a day three weeks ago.

Also, the number of daily administered vaccines has exceeded 1 million, an increase of almost 50% over the past two weeks, prompted by the adoption of strengthening doses and the obligation for vaccination in labor centres.

However, health authorities are preparing for another major wave of infection with the coming cold weather that will force people more towards closed environments.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, health experts have stressed the need for a practical pill. The objective is to achieve something similar to Tamiflu, a drug that has been used for 20 years to cut the effect of the disease by one or two days, and to reduce symptoms such as temperature, cough, and nose jam.

Three drug antibodies authorized by the FDA have proved very effective in reducing deaths from COVIDD-19. But they are expensive, difficult to produce, and precise and professional medical equipment is needed for their management.

If approved by the FDA, the US government has agreed to buy enough pills to treat 1.7 million people at a price of about $700 per person. This is almost half the price of antibodies purchased by the U.S. government, with nearly $2,000 for an injection, but still more expensive than many antivirus drugs used for other diseases.

Dr. Merck company Cartson said in an interview that the $700 figure does not represent the ultimate price for this drug.

We determined that price before we had the data, so it's only a” contract, he said. “Of course, we will be responsible and will make this drug available to as many people as possible around the world”.

Kenilworth, the Merck company's po, says they are in talks on buying medicine from governments worldwide and that a mobile price system will be used, given the economic potential of each country. The company has also signed agreements with several Indian pharmaceutical companies to produce lower-cost drug versions for low-income countries.

Several other companies, including Pfizer and Roche, are exploring similar drugs and are expected to announce the results in the coming weeks and months. The AstraZeneca company is also seeking FDA authorisation for a long-term antibody drug that would offer several months of protection for patients with immune system disorders and do not have enough reaction from the vaccine.

Some experts predict that different therapies for COVID-19 will be given in the future to protect against the worst effects of the virus. / VOA/