The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday March 2 recommended the anti-Covid pill from the American Merck (MSD) for patients with Covid 19 who are still mild but who are at high risk of hospitalization, in particular old people.
Read alsoMolnupiravir, Merck's anti-Covid pill remains "active" against Omicron, according to the company
This treatment, called molnupiravir, is an antiviral that must be administered quickly after the onset of symptoms, and taken for five days to prevent the virus from replicating.
It is recommended for “
patients with non-severe Covid-19 who are at the highest risk of hospitalization
,” a WHO international expert panel of international experts told the British Medical Journal on Wednesday ( BMJ).
Reduced risk of hospital admission
These patients at risk of hospitalization are the unvaccinated, the elderly, the immunocompromised or those who suffer from chronic illnesses.
On the other hand, “
young and healthy patients, including children, and pregnant and breastfeeding women
” should not take the treatment, the WHO panel believes.
Read alsoCovid-19: great disparities in vaccine coverage across the globe
This recommendation is based on new data from six randomized controlled trials involving 4,796 patients, the largest set of data on this drug to date, details the WHO in a press release.
The results of these trials suggest that molnupiravir reduces the risk of hospital admission (43 fewer admissions per 1000 high-risk patients) and the time to resolution of symptoms (on average 3.4 days less) .
Less certain, they underline a weak effect on mortality (6 fewer deaths per 1000 patients).
The WHO panel acknowledges that cost and availability issues associated with molnupiravir may make it difficult to access in low- and middle-income countries and exacerbate health inequalities.
Experts also recommend a treatment combining Regeneron's monoclonal antibodies (casirivimab and imdevimab) only for people who are confirmed not to have been infected with the Omicron variant.
Indeed, these antibodies proved to be ineffective against the variant.
Read alsoCovid-19: around 35,000 French people have benefited from non-vaccine treatment
Molnupiravir is the only anti-Covid pill with Paxlovid from the American Pfizer.
But Merck's treatment raises more concerns than the latter when it comes to side effects.
The United States Medicines Agency, for example, has not authorized it for children under 18 because it could affect bone and cartilage development.