COVID-19 pill cuts hospitalizations and deaths in half, Merck says
An experimental pill from Merck was shown in a trial to cut the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and death in half, the company has announced.
The drugmaker said Friday that in a trial, those who received its pill to treat COVID-19, molnupiravir, within five days of experiencing symptoms had half the rate of hospitalization and death as patients who received a placebo, The Associated Press reports. According to Merck, the rate of hospitalizations or deaths was 7.3 percent among those patients who received molnupiravir compared to 14.1 percent for the placebo group.
Merck said it plans to seek emergency use authorization for the pill, which the company noted would become the first oral antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19 if approved. Merck CEO Robert M. Davis said the "compelling results" left the company "optimistic that molnupiravir can become an important medicine as part of the global effort to fight the pandemic." Merck Research Laboratories Vice President Dr. Dean Li also told The Associated Press that the results "exceeded what I thought the drug might be able to do in this clinical trial," adding, "When you see a 50 percent reduction in hospitalization or death that's a substantial clinical impact."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The company says that if approved, it expects to produce 10 million doses of molnupiravir by the end of 2021.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
Cicada-geddon: the fungus that controls insects like 'zombies'
Under The Radar Expert says bugs will develop 'hypersexualisation' despite their genitals falling off
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why February 29 is a leap day
Speed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US spacecraft nearing first private lunar landing
Speed Read If touchdown is successful, it will be the first U.S. mission to the moon since 1972
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists create 'meaty' rice for eco-friendly protein
Speed Read Korean scientists have invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New images reveal Neptune and Uranus in different colours than originally thought
Speed Read Voyager 2 images from the 1980s led to 'modern misconception'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published