The United Kingdom announced Thursday that it has become the first country in the world to approve the anti-Covid-19 drug "Molnupiravir", which is an essential tool in the fight against the pandemic.
The drug is produced by Merck Laboratories, USA.
And British Health Minister Sajid Javid said in a statement, “It is a historic day for our country because the United Kingdom has become the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for treatment of Covid-19,” stressing that “this will change the situation of vulnerable individuals and those who suffer from deficiencies in Immunity will soon enable them to use this revolutionary treatment."
And the British Drug Control Agency has approved the use of “Molnupiravir” by people with mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19 disease, and from at least one factor that would put them at risk of an epidemic, such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and over the age of 60.
And antivirals such as "Molnupiravir" reduce the ability of the virus to multiply, which curbs the disease.
The benefits of these drugs are double, as they allow avoiding dangerous symptoms, as well as reducing the possibility of transmission of infection to the contacts of the infected person.
This drug is given to the patient in the days following his diagnosis, and it cuts in half the likelihood of hospitalization, according to a clinical trial conducted by Merck.
And the British government, which is facing some of the highest infections in the world, announced on October 20 that it had requested 480,000 "Molnupiravir" treatments. And it signed a contract to obtain 250 thousand treatments of the type “Ritonavir”, another antiviral produced by the American “Pfizer” laboratories, used to combat the AIDS virus, and clinical trials are being conducted on its effectiveness in combating Covid-19.