EU drug regulators to discuss Merck COVID-19 antiviral pill next week
By Trend
European Union drug regulators said they will discuss Merck & Co.’s antiviral pill next week amid a report that the drug faces potential rejection, Trend reports citing Al Arabiya.
A panel of the European Medicines Agency will consider the drug’s effectiveness at the meeting, Marco Cavaleri, the regulator’s head of biological health threats and vaccines strategy, said at a briefing on Thursday. He declined to comment on the robustness of the evidence to back the pill.
The US drugmaker has been developing molnupiravir with partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP.
The pill is only about 30 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations among high-risk patients, compared with about 90 percent efficacy for Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid, studies have shown.
The Financial Times reported Wednesday that the antiviral is unlikely to get EMA approval, citing people it didn’t identify familiar with the situation.
Merck on February 3 trimmed the upper end of its 2022 forecast of molnupiravir sales to $6 billion, down from its earlier prediction that the drug might log up to $7 billion by yearend.
---
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!