China’s medical product regulators said on Friday that the country has granted conditional approval for the import of Merck’s COVID-19 treatment, Molnupiravir.
Molnupiravir, developed by Merck, is also known as MSD outside the United States and Canada.
According to China’s National Medical Products Administration, it is approved to be used in adult patients who have mild to medium COVID-19 infection and a high risk of progressing to severe cases.
In March this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) had updated its living guidelines on COVID-19 therapeutics to include the conditional recommendation on molnupiravir.
This was the first oral antiviral drug to be included in the treatment guidelines for COVID-19.
According to WHO, molnupiravir is given as four tablets (total 800 mg) twice daily for five days; within 5 days of symptom onset. Used as early as possible after infection, it can help prevent hospitalisation, the global health agency had emphasised.
(With inputs from Reuters)
