Singapore inks deal for Merck's Covid antiviral pill
Drug is said to be effective against known variants, including Delta
Singapore has inked a supply and purchase agreement for an antiviral pill to treat Covid-19. The pill is said to be effective against all known variants of the virus, including Delta.
The drug was developed by pharmaceutical company Merck & Co in the United States and Canada, together with Miami-based Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. Merck is known as MSD elsewhere in the world.
MSD said yesterday that the drug will be available in Singapore once it has received authorisation and approval for use.
Known as molnupiravir, the drug targets an enzyme that the virus needs to make copies of itself by introducing errors into its genetic code. This enzyme, known as the viral polymerase, is conserved across different variants, making molnupiravir effective across the Gamma, Delta and Mu variants.
Data from clinical trials suggests the drug is most effective when given early in the course of infection, said MSD.
Interim trial results last Friday showed the drug may reduce the chance of hospitalisation or death by half for patients who are at risk of severe disease.
The companies plan to seek US emergency use authorisation for the pill as soon as possible and submit applications to regulatory agencies worldwide.
So far, Australia has entered advance supply agreements with MSD to purchase 300,000 courses of the drug. Other places such as South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia are also in talks to purchase the drug.
Dr Shawn Vasoo, clinical director of the National Centre for Infectious Diseases, told The Straits Times that it is not so clear at this point how molnupiravir might compare with other therapies for mild to moderate Covid-19, such as antibody treatment or remdesivir, and how clinicians may decide to choose one drug over the other.
"Certainly, oral medication has greater convenience over intravenous medications, but such data is lacking at this point. This may be a potential area for further study," he added.
Molnupiravir is being evaluated as a Covid-19 treatment and a preventive drug.
The global phase three treatment trial enrolled Covid-19 patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 who had symptoms for up to five days.
All of them had at least one risk factor - such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and being above 60 years old - associated with poor disease outcomes. The trial results are expected early next month, said MSD.
In anticipation of the results, MSD expects to produce 10 million courses of treatment by the end of the year.
The second trial will study the efficacy and safety of administering it to prevent the spread of Covid-19 within household settings.
Local researchers had also identified molnupiravir as an effective drug against the original Sars-CoV-2 virus, as well as the Beta and Delta variants.
A team led by Professor Dean Ho, director of the National University of Singapore's Institute for Digital Medicine, together with the DSO National Laboratories, found that molnupiravir, combined with baricitinib, an anti-inflammatory drug, could be a possible combination for Covid-19 treatment.
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