The European Commission (EC) on Friday authorized the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral pill one day after the European Unions’ (EU) drugs regulator backed the treatment for adults who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of severe disease. Stella Kyriakides, the EU’s commissioner for health and food safety, called it “a key…

Researchers and U.S. health regulators are concerned that the CCP virus may quickly develop resistance to new antiviral treatments from Pfizer and Merck, prompting scientists to find new combinations that better protect against the virus. Molnupiravir, developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is intended for use at home by adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are…

Researchers and U.S. health regulators are concerned that the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus may quickly develop resistance to new antiviral treatments from Pfizer and Merck, prompting scientists to find new combinations that better protect against the pathogen that causes COVID-19. Molnupiravir, developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is intended for home use by adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19…

Merck’s COVID-19 oral pill molnupiravir has a mechanism of action that can work against Omicron and any other variant, a company executive said on Monday. “We’re very confident that it will effect Omicron … This mechanism in molecule (will) work for Omicron, and I would imagine against any variant that comes up,” Dean Li, president…

MILAN—Italy will receive around 40,000 doses of Merck & Co.’s COVID-19 antiviral drug next week, which will add to nearly 12,000 already distributed to hospitals, the special COVID-19 commissioner said on Sunday. “They are intended for clinical cases that risk a serious outcome of the disease,” Commissioner Francesco Figliuolo told a television program on Italy’s…

After several months of legal back-and-forth in the courtroom, with the FDA requesting up to 75 years to release all of their vaccine safety-related documents, a federal court has just ruled against them. Instead, that judge said the FDA has only eight months to release all of their Pfizer vaccine safety data—meaning that we might…

India’s top health research body announced on Wednesday that it won’t be adding Merck’s COVID-19 antiviral pill molnupiravir to its national treatment protocol, citing concerns over its safety. The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said it had become aware of “major safety concerns” that prompted the decision, despite India’s drug regulator in December approving the drug…

Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories will be launching a generic version of Merck’s COVID-19 oral antiviral medication, molnupiravir, at an extremely affordable treatment rate of 1,400 Rupees ($18.8), 37 times cheaper than in the United States. Dr. Reddy’s “Motflu” will be priced at $0.47 per 200-mg pill, and a treatment consists of a…

PARIS—France has canceled its order for Merck & Co.’s COVID-19 antiviral drug following disappointing trial data and hopes instead to receive Pfizer’s competing drug before the end of January, the health minister said on Wednesday. France is the first country to publicly say it has canceled an order for the Merck treatment after the company…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday morning issued an emergency use authorization for Merck’s antiviral pill for COVID-19, more than 12 hours after giving the green light for a similar, oral drug made by Pfizer. Merck’s drug, named molnupiravir, was developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and it was shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from…