It is one of the most anticipated Covid-19 treatments.
The European Medicines Agency authorized this Friday, November 19, molnupiravir, the anti-covid tablet developed by the Merck laboratory, in an emergency.
While France has already ordered 50,000 doses of this capsule, Clarisse Lhoste, president of MSD-Merck France, announced yesterday on LCI to work "closely with the authorities to make it available in mid-December" in the country. "The drug, which is currently not authorized in the EU, can be used to treat adults with Covid-19 who do not need supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of developing a severe form" of the disease, the EMA said in a statement. It helps "block the replication of the virus and prevent it from spreading in the body" and reduce by 50% the risk of developing a severe form of the disease, according to Merck.
The EMA announced earlier today the launch of the review for the emergency use of the other anti-Covid pill, Pfizer's, by member states ahead of its authorization within the EU.
"The EMA is starting this review to help national authorities who can decide on its early use for Covid-19, for example in emergency situations," the European regulator announced in a statement.
