‘German pharmaceutical giant Merck and a US partner reported promising results on Saturday (Mar 6) in trials of a drug administered orally to fight COVID-19, saying it helps reduce patients' viral load...
‘In January, Merck halted work on two COVID-19 vaccine candidates but has pressed on with research into two products to treat the disease, including a pill-based one called molnupiravir, which it has developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
‘This drug caused a significant drop in patients' viral load after five days of treatment with it, Merck said at a meeting with infectious disease experts. This Phase 2A test - drug trials have three stages before a product can be approved - was carried out among 202 non-hospitalised people with symptoms of COVID-19.’
Read here (Channel News Asia, Mar 7, 2021)
