Thailand negotiating purchase of special Covid pill
The Public Health Ministry is negotiating the purchase of 200,000 courses of the experimental antiviral drug Molnupiravir with US drugmaker Merck & Co.
“The ministry expects the drug to be registered under the Thai Food and Drug Administration [FDA] by November and the first batch of Molnupiravir to be delivered to Thailand by late next month or early December,” Medical Services Department chief Dr Somsak Ankasil said on Tuesday.
“We cannot reveal the price at the moment due to contract restrictions,” he said. “This contract will only be valid once Molnupiravir is approved by the US FDA, which should be soon.”
Molnupiravir is among several anti-coronavirus drugs currently undergoing Phase 2 and 3 trials overseas. Results of the Phase 3 trial for Molnupiravir – the first antiviral drug specifically developed to fight Covid-19 – are expected by the end of October.
If the drug proves to be effective, it will be used in place of Favipiravir. Both drugs act in the same way – stopping the Covid-19 virus from entering the body’s cells. Patients with mild symptoms will be given 40 tablets of Molnupiravir to take over five days.