Early treatment with Merck's experimental pill molnupiravir nearly halved the risk of hospitalization and death in at-risk, unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, according to interim results from an international phase 3 clinical trial published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).On Nov 30, based in part on an analysis of unpublished data from this MOVe-OUT trial, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee narrowly voted to recommend the use of the drug to treat COVID-19 and prevent hospitalization and death, but the full FDA has yet to grant it an emergency use authorization (EUA).
Molnupiravir is already approved for use in the United Kingdom.If approved for an EUA, the drug would become the first widely