If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, adding a new, easy-to-use weapon to the world's arsenal against the pandemic.
If cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, it would be the first pill shown to treat COVID-19, adding a new, easy-to-use weapon to the world's arsenal against the pandemic.
Could A COVID Pill Stop ‘The Virus In Its Tracks’?
03/08/21 AT 8:23 AM
A new experimental drug is being tested and shows promise of eliminating COVID-19 just by taking a pill.
The pill, Molnupiravir, which is being developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck (MRK), was found to reduce the virus in individuals after five days of treatment in a mid-stage study, the companies announced in a release on March 6.
While more studies of Molnupiravir are underway, the companies say the pill could provide a viable way to treat those that have symptoms of COVID-19 and be the first oral antiviral drug to combat the virus.
The development of the new pill could catalyze the human fight against the deadly Covid-19 pandemic that has already claimed the lives of more than 2.6 million people worldwide
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IosBio, based in Sussex, has engineered a vaccine in oral form and carried out initial trials on monkeys. It is said to have produced “highly effective” results.
Mr Zahawi told Times Radio: There are technologies with pills and others being developed around the world and we will continue to look at those. But we re making sure the UK will always have the capability and capacity to manufacture the variant vaccines that will deal with any variant virus.”
More than 12 million people in the UK have had their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
Generic image of person swallowing a pill (Image: Getty)