Amid speculations of a possible spike in covid cases, India has approved Merck’s Covid-19 pill and two more vaccines for emergency.
According to a report by Business Standard, Molnupiravir will be manufactured in India by 13 companies for restricted use under emergency situation for treatment of adult patients with Covid-19, said Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday.
Merck’s anti-viral pill molnupiravir was authorised by the United States last week for certain high-risk adult patients and has been shown to reduce hospitalisations and deaths by around 30 per cent in a clinical trial.
Two other Covid-19 vaccines, Serum Institute of India’s version of Novavax Inc’s shot, Covovax, and homegrown drugmaker Biological E’s Corbevax were also granted emergency use approval, Mandaviya said on Twitter.
