A review panel for the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the new anti-viral medication molnupiravir, by Merck, to be used by people who have tested positive for coronavirus and are at high risk of developing a severe case of COVID, USA Today reports.
The FDA’s The Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee voted 13-10 to approve the recommendation to people at severe risk for advanced COVID who have initially tested positive for coronavirus in the previous five days. It is not recommended for use by people who are pregnant.
Molnupiravir is a five-day medication course, with two doses taken daily. It is the first anti-viral medication approved for treatment of coronavirus, although conservatives have been touting ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine as COVID treatments; data suggests those two drugs are ineffective.
The federal government has put an advance order in for molnupiravir, reserving 1.7 million courses of the drug for $1.2 billion when the drug gets approved. The treatment will cost $700 per patient. A dose of the various vaccines, for comparison, costs less than $20 per dose.
Pfizer has developed a new antiviral drug, Paxlovid, which is said to be 90% effective at stopping the multiplication of the virus in the body. It is expected to get FDA approval in the coming weeks.