Expert panel to decide on COVID tablet use here
Health authorities are currently studying the possibility of using the first oral antiviral pill developed to treat symptomatic COVID-19 in Sri Lanka.
The tablet-Molnupiravir, jointly developed by United States based Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutic is the first antiviral medication for COVID which can be taken as a pill rather than being injected or given intravenously.
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on Thursday (4) recommended this drug, for use in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, older age diabetes and heart disease. Production Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Minister Prof. Channa Jayasumana has requested Health Services Director General Dr. Asela Gunawardena to send him the opinion of the COVID-19 expert panel as to whether it should be used in Sri Lanka and if so, on what date and in what quantities.According to foreign medical experts, the antiviral Molnupiravir is safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at increased risk of developing severe disease.
Merck has already applied with the Food and Drug Administration for authorization. Emergency use authorization for the Merck treatment may come before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, a course of pills developed by Merck rival Pfizer can slash the risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 by 89% if taken within three days of developing symptoms, according to results released Friday by the pharmaceutical company.
In a study of more than 1,200 COVID-19 patients with a higher risk of developing serious illness, people who took Pfizer’s pills were far less likely to end up in the hospital compared to people who got placebo pills.
None of the people who got the real pills died, but 10 people who got placebo pills died, according to results summarized in a Pfizer press release.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in prepared remarks that the data suggest the pill-based treatment, if authorized, could “eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations.”
Infectious disease experts cautioned these results are preliminary- only described in a press release and not in a peer-reviewed medical journal -- but they represent another promising development in the search for effective and easy-to-administer COVID-19 pills.
Right now, the only authorized treatments are given via intravenous infusion.
“Having an oral therapy is critically important,” said Dr.Carlos Del Rio, the executive associate dean and a global health expert at the Emory School of Medicine.
“If we can get patients to start treatment early before they progress to severe illness and unfortunately death, everyone wins in the fight against COVID,” said Dr. Simone Wildes, a board-certified infectious disease physician at South Shore Health and an ABC News contributor.
Infectious disease specialists stressed that these pills are not a replacement for a vaccine -- by far the safest and most effective way to reduce the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19.
But they may make a big difference if given quickly to people after getting COVID-19, especially the immune compromised, or in places where a vaccine is not available.Pfizer’s pill-based treatment “would be a good drug for patient with COVID and high risk of progression, vaccinated or not,” said Del Rio, “although the vaccinated were not included in this study.”
Merck’s treatment reduced the risk of hospitalizations and deaths by 50%.
This could indicate Pfizer’s treatment has an edge on efficacy, but experts cautioned against comparing the studies directly because they were designed in different ways, and measured different so-called “primary endpoints.” (ABC News)
source https://www.dailynews.lk/2021/11/06/local/263883/expert-panel-decide-covid-tablet-use-here
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