Merck seeks FDA approval for pill to treat COVID

Merck, the pharmaceutical company which has come up
with a drug for COVID-19, has called upon US regulators to authorise its pill
to introduce a new and easy-to-use weapon against the pandemic. The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) is going to decide on the pill’s authorisation. If
authorised, this will be the first pill to treat COVID-19. All other FDA-backed
treatments against the disease require an IV or injection.

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Merck’s antiviral pill that people will be able to
take at home to reduce their symptoms and ensure quick recovery is slated to prove
ground-breaking. First and foremost, it will ease the crushing caseload on US hospitals
and help curb outbreaks in poorer countries with weakened healthcare systems.

Also Read | COVID-19 death toll in US surpasses 700,000: Johns Hopkins

The FDA is going to study company data on the
effectiveness and safety of the drug before the agency authorises the same.
Merck, along with its partner Ridgebank Biotherapeutic, has said that they
specifically want FDA to grant emergency-use authorisation for adults with mild
to moderate COVID-19 who are at risk of severe disease.

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According to the company’s own documentation, Merck’s
pill has been successful in cutting hospitalisations and deaths by half among
patients with early symptoms of COVID-19. The results were so strong that
independent medical experts monitoring the trial recommended stopping it early,
an Associated Press report stated.

Also Read | Merck says oral drug Molnupiravir cuts COVID deaths and hospitalisations by half

With regard to side-effects, Merck has not publicly
detailed the types of problems reported, but a study of side effects will be a
key part of FDA’s review and FDA’s approval may make handling the pandemic’s
impact on health infrastructure way more manageable.

Until then, however, the United States is continuing
to push vaccinations as the best way to protect people against COVID-19. Those
efforts are yet to yield the desired results as nearly 68 million Americans
remain unwilling to get themselves vaccinated. Approval for Merck’s drug may
help bypass vaccine hesitancy among certain groups of people which in turn can
help control future waves of infection.