COVID pill approved by UK health agency

| 04/11/2021 | 23 Comments

(CNS): The United Kingdom has become the first country in the world to approve a COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. On Thursday Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended that the drug, Molnupiravir, be administered by physicians as soon as possible following a positive COVID-19 test and within five days of the onset of symptoms. This is the first oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 to be approved, which is an important breakthrough.

The pill, originally developed to treat flu, can be taken at home and it is expected to be prescribed to vulnerable patients to take twice per day. In clinical trials it cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half.

“The first global authorization of Molnupiravir is a major achievement.” said Merck CEO Robert Davis. “We will continue to move with both rigor and urgency to bring Molnupiravir to patients around the world as quickly as possible,”


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (23)

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  1. Duppy Conqueror says:

    But you see 7:16am people like Boris and others will try just about anything now to justify their idiotic and disastrous Covid 19 plans . The countless lives and long term effects mean absolutely nothing to them there and here it’s about their wealth and their greedy and selfish legacy. It has become so disgusting now that even poorer nations now are unable to obtain these dangerous medications to test on their people even the guinea pigs now are the subject of discrimination.

    • Anonymous says:

      You used alot of words. However, I am not sure you said anything. Your post contains many ended comments referring to lives, wealth and legacy. You are missing the who, what, when and where.

  2. Robert Mugabe IV says:

    OK I’ve had it with big Pharma. These guys and gals are as greedy as the developers on this island. How much money is enough!!!!
    Pfizer said their VACCINE would cuts the risk of hospitalization or death by 85-90%. That sounded great at the time.
    So why oh why would anyone want to buy one of the Merck new ‘game changer’ pills that according to this article……”In clinical trials it cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by about HALF ”
    And to top it off big Pharma CEO says he will work with urgency to bring the pill to patients around the world.
    Yes he will, unless you live in sub Saharan Africa or any other filthy poor nation.
    It’s all about the Money.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Prefer the Pfizer pill with greater effectiveness – do we know ETA until we get it here on island?

  4. Openup says:

    So a disease that is now no worse than flu with the jab is even less dangerous?

    • Anonymous says:

      These are welcome tools in a deadly mutating global pandemic that is nothing like a flu. While >60% may “sail through”, an unfortunate percentage of fully-vaccinated, and even triple vaccinated, will need every medical tool we’ve got. There could be another variant along after Delta Plus that changes the rules again.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Dr. Seheult does an excellent job explaining the replication interference mechanism that gives this new therapeutic it’s effectiveness. Very interesting.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI0xGfITaas

  6. Anonymous says:

    This is great news if true. However, it seems that the UK and other government are so desperate for a magic bullet against Covid that they seem to be throwing caution to the wind.

    Molnupiravir works by inserting errors into the Covid virus DNA that causes it to create damaging genetic mutations which result in the virus being unable to properly replicate. The relative unknown in this case, and this fact is repeated in several publications by extremely credible sources and researchers, is that because the clinical trial are so limited in cohort numbers and time, we do not know if this pill can cause catastrophic mutations in humans that do not crop up until sometime quite later.

    The study on mutagenicity of the molnupiravir metabolite in the prestigious and very credible Journal of Infectious Diseases earlier this year also tested favipirivir. The study found that the molnupiravir metabolite, NHC, was a far more potent mutagen than favipirivir, which is a drug that has widely known issues related to teratogenicity and links to birth defects.

    From a DrugDiscoveryTrends article:
    “In theory, mutagenic drugs can cause either birth defects or cancer. The inclusion criteria for the Phase 3 study of molnupiravir required males to refrain from donating sperm and either agree to abstain from sex or use contraception. Females were required to not be pregnant or breastfeeding. Women who were of child-bearing age had to agree to use a highly effective contraceptive method or be abstinent for 28 days from the start of the study intervention. In addition, women of childbearing age must have had a negative highly sensitive pregnancy test within 24 hours before receiving the first dose of medicine.” (Meaning that the clinical trials in question did NOT include–and actually avoided–any study on the effects of the drug in pregnant women or how it might effect a future pregnancy. Because of the limited time spans involved we do not have any data on the potential long-term genetic effects of molnupiravir.)

    From an article updated today in Euronews:
    “Merck announced preliminary results…showing its drug cut hospitalisations and deaths by half among patients with early COVID-19 symptoms. The results have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal. The company has also not disclosed details of molnupiravir’s potential side effects, saying only that it produced comparable results to placebo drugs during trials.” (From that we can conclude that it is at least as effective as a placebo or “sugar pill”!)

    From Forbes magazine article dated 2 November:
    “As far back as 1980, researchers have been trying to understand just how damaging NHC, molnupiravir’s metabolite, can be to our own healthy cells. Earlier this year, a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found that the metabolite could indeed be incorporated into and mutate within our host DNA. As others have pointed out, just because something is mutagenic doesn’t mean it’s entirely bad — even sunlight is mutagenic. But, just like sunlight, overexposure can lead to long term ill effects, like cancer. In the case of molnupiravir, the drug may not just lead to the growth of cancerous tumours but also, potentially, to birth defects, either through sperm precursor cells or in pregnant women. …The pool of participants in the clinical trial — around 1,500 patients — is too small to pick up on rare mutagenic events and the early nature of the trial is too short-term to provide a proper view of issues that may occur months, if not years, down the road. Merck would do well to remember their experience with Vioxx, a painkiller that was deemed safe based on initial studies, but later proved deadly.”

    I am far from a tin hat conspiracy theorist (I am vaxed) however, I see clear red flags from credible sources regarding this drug.

  7. Anonymous says:

    How soon can we have it here? Will it be here in sufficient numbers to treat everyone who wants it? How much will it be? Will our insurances pay for it?

    • Anonymous says:

      I read it’s $700 per dose which is insane but it still beats going to the hospital.

      • Anonymous says:

        That $700+ price is for a 5-day course. This inflated cost is the price that people in developed well-off countries ripe for Big Pharma to rip off will have to pay. The company licensed it to India and the plans there are to sell it for $12.

        • Anonymous says:

          Maybe Dr. Shetty could help us access Optimus Pharma generics and bring down the cost of medicine here? That’s what medical tourism should look like.

  8. Anonymous says:

    This is great news. Hopefully we can get this here quickly.

    • Anonymous says:

      None for the unvaccinated though.

      • Anonymous says:

        @ 1:06 PM
        I expect the unvaxxed will not be interested in this new treatment.

        Most are sold on the ivermectin (human form) treatment, even though the manufacturer Merck, recommends against using it for treatment against COVID.

        There are many inconsistencies in their stance.

        Many don’t trust big pharma, but worship ivermectin. They feel they would be a lab rat if they had to take the vaccine, yet will accept ivermectin(human version) as treatment even though the manufacturer recommends against it.

        And many see Vitamin D and Zinc as the cure all/preventative elixir/magic pill, yet they overlook the fact that the manufacturers of those supplements qualify as big pharma as well.

        • Anonymous says:

          I’m double jabbed and I wont be taking it or any booster, they can stick where the sun dont shine

      • Anonymous says:

        I won’t be taking that crap either.

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