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Merck & Co Inc. gets the green light from the Japanese health ministry for its COVID-19 anti-viral pill. The health officials recommended the approval of the said medicine late last week.
The approval of the Merck coronavirus pill is said to be part of the country’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plan to introduce and distribute new treatments by the end of the year as the growing cases of Omicron variant infection is becoming a very serious concern.
According to Inquirer.net, the committee’s decision has led to the shipments of around 200,000 doses starting this weekend. This is just the preparation and start of the deliveries as per the announcement of the country’s prime minister.
“I am convinced the distribution of this drug is a major step forward for our nation’s COVID–19 handling,” Shigeyuki Goto, Japan’s health minister, told the press after the announcement of the panel’s approval of Merck’s COVID-19 treatment pill.
He added that some of the country’s pharmacies and medical institutions are expected to begin receiving the medicine as early as next Monday. Moreover, it was said that Japan is really laying bets on oral treatments to prevent cases of severe infections and deaths should a sixth wave of the pandemic arise.
Based on the report, Japan agreed to pay $1.2 billion to Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics for the shipment of 1.6 million courses of molnupiravir. PM Kishida also said last week, the government signed a deal for two million doses of another anti-viral treatment pill and this was developed by Pfizer.
In the U.S., health regulators also authorized the use of the Merck pill for some high-risk adult patients. Many countries are now rushing to purchase the said Merck’s molnupiravir due to promising results during trials.
“As a single oral medicine that can be taken at home, early treatment with molnupiravir significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death in patients at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19,” Merck research laboratories president, Dr. Dean Y. Li, said in a press release. “Importantly for patients, there were markedly fewer deaths among those taking molnupiravir in our clinical study and we believe that it will be a critical addition to the measures available to help curb the impact of COVID-19 on patients, healthcare systems, and public health in Japan.”
