Australia Secures 300,000 courses of the Promising Oral COVID-19 Treatment Molnupiravir.

Australia will have access to an additional COVID-19 treatment following the Morrison Government’s deal to purchase 300,000 courses of the promising oral COVID-19 treatment Molnupiravir.

Molnupiravir is an oral antiviral that is being developed for the first-line treatment of COVID-19 in adult patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.

Treatment with Molnupiravir has been shown to stop people with COVID-19 developing serious symptoms, keeping them out of hospital and preventing serious illness and death. Whilst Molnupiravir is in late stage clinical trials, the agreement between Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) is for supply to Australia should it be approved by the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA), which could occur in early 2022.

“Vaccines and new treatments like this will boost our National Plan to safely reopen Australia and keep Australia safely open,” the Prime Minister said.

Molnupiravir is a capsule that is taken twice a day for 5 days by adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms and does not need to be refrigerated, allowing it to be used in the community or as a targeted intervention at high-risk locations and in rural areas.

The makers of Molnupiravir, MSD and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, have recently announced that Molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death from COVID-19 by 50 per cent at a planned interim analysis of the Phase 3 trial.

Vaccination remains the most important and safest way for Australians to protect themselves and their loved ones from COVID-19 – and almost 80 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over have now had their first dose.

  Antiviral, Covid treatment, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), Molnupiravir, Oral