[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), announced on the 1st (local time) that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will review the COVID-19 oral antiviral pill developed by U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck as quickly as possible.
On the same day, Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced results from a Phase 3 clinical trial involving 775 COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms within 5 days of infection, showing that the oral antiviral drug 'Molnupiravir' reduced the risk of hospitalization by about 50%.
Director Fauci appeared on CNBC's Closing Bell and said, "We need to give the FDA time to carefully review the data and reach conclusions such as Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). I don't want to get ahead of them or predict the timing, but I can say they will do it as soon as possible."
If the FDA grants Emergency Use Authorization for Molnupiravir, it will be the first oral treatment for COVID-19.
Merck expects to produce enough doses to treat 10 million people by the end of the year. The U.S. government has already agreed to purchase treatments for 1.7 million people. Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, said at a briefing that the government has the option to buy more if the drug is approved.
When asked whether the drug would be administered only to unvaccinated individuals if approved, Director Fauci responded that he did not want to speculate on the target population before FDA approval.
However, he added, "Once infected, it is what it is," and "Vaccination status may not be that important."
Meanwhile, The New York Times (NYT) reported that the cumulative COVID-19 death toll in the U.S. has surpassed 700,000.
The 700,000 deaths represent 0.21% of the total U.S. population of 331.4 million (according to the U.S. Census Bureau), meaning that 1 in every 500 Americans has died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
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