Merck & Co Inc. (MSD) said on Friday that its experimental pill against Covid-19, molnupiravir, reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 30% in one study, according to data from all patients enrolled in the final stage.
The company said data on the drug molnupiravir, developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, was submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ahead of a meeting of its expert advisors on Tuesday.
The results are different from those presented in another study carried out by MSD in October. In it, the pill had reduced hospitalizations and deaths by about 50%.
A planned interim analysis of the data last month showed that 7.3% of those receiving molnupirvir twice a day for five days were hospitalized. None died 29 days after treatment.
The comparison is made with a 14.1% hospitalization rate for patients who received placebo.
In the updated data, 6.8% of those receiving molnupiravir were hospitalized and one person died, while the other placebo group had a hospitalization rate of 9.7%.
Reference: CNN Brasil
