American Pharma major Merck has developed a drug called Molnupiravi which works to completely eliminate the new Coronavirus from the body.
Merck is working closely with leading Indian Pharma giant to develop the oral pill.
This 200 mg capsule is an oral treatment and has to be taken at home for 5 days.
The capsule could be introduced in India very soon if regulatory body gives emergency approval.
“What’s needed to expedite the introduction of this drug in India currently is emergency use authorization by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI),” wrote FreePress Journal.
India’s daily coronavirus death toll passed a new record on Saturday as the government battled to get oxygen supplies to hospitals overwhelmed by the hundreds of thousands of new daily cases.
Another 2,624 deaths, a new daily record, were reported in 24 hours, taking the official toll to nearly 190,000 since the pandemic started, reported AFP.
More than 340,000 new cases were also reported, taking India’s total to 16.5 million, second only to the United States, the news agency reported on Saturday,
“It will be a major breakthrough in treatment of covid cases, if it is really effective as being stated. It will not only bring down the load on hospitals, but will help in taking care of most cases at home by patients themselves. It also seems to limit transmission, hence will also help in limiting the spread,” said Dr. Arjumand Faisel, a leading public health specialist based in Islamabad.
The oral drug was jointly developed by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics (Rigibel) in Germany and Merck in the United States and has successfully completed the first and second phase of clinical trials in Humans and the current phase 3 clinical trial is nearing the end and the results are very promising.
It has been found to be very successful in animals.
The pill could hit the market within 4 to 5 months.
