A panel of the Japanese Ministry of Health recommended this Friday the approval of the antiviral pill against Covid-19 developed by Merck, as part of the prime minister’s plans, Fumio Kishida, to roll out new treatments before the end of the year, as concern about the variant increases Omicron.
The panel’s decision sets the stage for the shipment of 200,000 doses nationwide starting this weekend, based on preparations previously announced by Kishida.
Japan is betting heavily on oral treatments to keep serious infections and deaths at bay in the event of a dreaded sixth wave of the pandemic.
The government agreed last month to pay Merck and his partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics about 1,200 million dollars for 1.6 million doses of his drug molnupiravir.
Additionally, Kishida last week announced an agreement to purchase 2 million doses of another antiviral pill developed by Pfizer. Japanese company Shionogi & Co is also expected to apply for approval of its own treatment soon and deliver another million doses early next year.
US regulators on Thursday authorized the pill of Merck for certain high-risk adult patients.
Several countries rushed to buy molnupiravir from Merck after very promising initial results, but subsequent data from the company in late November indicated that the drug was notably less effective than previously thought. France canceled its order on Wednesday.
Japan confirmed this week first known cases of Omicron infections that have not been able to be traced to travelers abroad. Community broadcasts of the variant have been detected in the western cities of Osaka and Kyoto, and a suspicious case was announced in Tokyo on Friday.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx