Posted on 04/15/2021 11:01:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Merck & Co Inc on Thursday said it plans a large study of what could become the first pill to target the coronavirus in people at risk of severe COVID-19, but will no longer pursue use of the experimental antiviral drug in hospitalized patients.
The company said it would study the drug molnupiravir in a Phase 3 trial among COVID-19 patients out of hospitals who have at least one risk factor for poor outcomes, such as advanced age, obesity or diabetes.
Trial participants can have had symptoms for no more than five days, shortened from seven days in a prior study.
"We had some encouraging signals in the outpatient trial. That was not the case in the inpatient trial, but that was not unexpected," Roy Baynes, Merck's chief medical officer, told Reuters. He said COVID-19 patients who need hospital treatment are often in the "inflammatory" phase of the disease, which is too late for an antiviral drug to provide much help.
Molnupiravir, which Merck is developing with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is designed to interfere with the ability of the coronavirus to replicate.
Merck also said it discontinued development of an experimental immune modulator, known as MK-7110, for treating COVID-19 after concluding that clinical trial and manufacturing preparations would take too long.
The drugmaker earlier this year stopped development of two COVID-19 vaccines, citing data showing they were less effective than vaccines being developed by rivals.
Merck said its trials of molnupiravir found no drug-related adverse events that led participants to discontinue treatment and there were no drug-related deaths.
Patients in the Phase 3 trial will be given 800 mg of molnupiravir twice a day for five days.
Merck said it plans to present at an upcoming medical meeting details from earlier studies of the drug in both hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Like HCQ or Ivwermectin?
Oh wait. They weren't allowed to be used because if there's a treatment that worked, then the vaccine isn't allowed to be used and there'd certainly be no need for EUA for an experimental medical treatment that has not been thoroughly tested for long term effects.
It's intellectual dishonestly to pretend that there are no other treatments for COVID but the so-called vaccine, when there were and are and they show promising results but were forbidden to be used.
I'd say it's pretty anti-science to not investigate EVERY possible treatment, especially those which are already know to be effective against other coronoa viruses.
Going for the most risky and invasive treatment first is beyond irresponsible. It's dispicable and evil.
Ah, Merck.
The most notorious big pharma for pushing out meds that harm people anyways, when they knew it.
Can you say *Vioxx*?
Can you say “Zostavax”?
A vaccine is not a treatment, it is a prophylaxis.
HCQ and Ivermectin hardly are treatments that meet standard criteria of complete treatment.
There are other treatments, monoclonal antibodies such as Regeneron or bamlanivimab. Your so called other treatments are trialed in other countries with equivocal results
Your judgments not withstanding, these are the facts and they are not in dispute.
You can order them on line at Canadian and Mexico pharmacies no script needed!! Takes 3 weeks to arrive!!
Subsequent to your post, this happened...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.