Molnupiravir, Merck pioneered oral COVID pill is yet to receive recognition from the Drugs Controller General of India. The body is reported to have been reviwing the clinical data of the drug for its efficacy and side effects.
Alliancing with Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, the manufacturers Merck have decided to launch the drug in India under the name Molxvir. Sun Pharma India Business CEO Kirti Ganorkar in an official statement said on Thursday, ” The recent authorisation of molnupiravir, licensed from MSD and Ridgeback, by the UK regulator is a positive step. In line with our consistent efforts to accelerate access to new drugs for COVID-19 treatment, we are gearing up to make Molxvir available to patients and healthcare providers across India at an economical price post-approval by DCGI.”
Earlier this year, Sun Pharmaceutical had signed a non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with MSD to manufacture and supply molnupiravir in India alongside other 100 low- and middle-income countries.
The drug authorities in UK were the first across the globe to have approved the drugs for administration a week ago, while the US Food and Drug Association is yet to release its verdict.
Molnupiravir is as a small molecule that does not require cold storage like messenger RNA vaccines. In the Phase 3 trial by Merck, A significant decline in hospitalizion or death by around 50 per cent in a planned interim analysis of the MOVe-OUT trial in at risk, non-hospitalised adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 was recorded. Molnupiravir was the first oral tablet developed for the treatment of symptomatic Covid-19 patients. Merck manufactured Molnupiravir was administered to 775 patients who tested positive for Covid-19, a significant reduction in hospitalization at 7.3 per cent and reduced risk of development of a fatal infection was reported. Molxvir is expected to bolster the world’s therapeutic arsenal against the virus.