Mexico grants emergency use approval for Merck's COVID-19 pill

Published January 8, 2022 10:01am

An experimental COVID-19 treatment pill, called molnupiravir and developed by Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, is seen in this undated handout photo released by Merck & Co Inc and obtained by Reuters on October 26, 2021. Mexico on Friday, January 7, 2021, approved its emergency use. Merck & Co Inc/Handout via REUTERS

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's health regulator has granted authorization for emergency use of drugmaker Merck's COVID-19 pill Molnupiravir, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday.

The health regulator, COFEPRIS, confirmed the approval in a statement later in the day.

COFEPRIS was expected to soon also approve Pfizer's Paxlovid pill to treat COVID-19, Lopez Obrador added at a regular news conference.

Both medications were approved last month in the United States.

Molnupiravir was developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30% in a clinical trial of high-risk individuals early in the course of the illness.

Lopez Obrador said he planned to make both medications available in public hospitals. —Reuters

Tags: molnupiravir, Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, COVID-19