The European Medicines Agency (EMA) declared on Thursday that it was in favor of recommending to the Member States of the Union the use, in emergency cases, of the treatment against Covid-19 Developed by Merck, licensed today in the UK.
The EMA seeks, on the other hand, to accelerate the study it launched last week on this drug, in order to be able to authorize its commercialization, at a time when Europe is experiencing an increase in infections due to coronavirus.
“We will try to speed up our evaluation to obtain authorization in the shortest time,” Marco Cavaleri, head of the EMA’s vaccination strategy, declared during a press conference, who cannot, for now, give an exact date.
“We are in favor of recommending to the Member States of the European Union to make this new oral antiviral available to urgent cases, before its authorization,” added Cavaleri.
This European regulator, based in Amsterdam, does not have the power to make a centralized decision on the use of a medicine in an emergency throughout the EU. It can only recommend to individual states, Cavaleri explained.
The United Kingdom became the first country on Thursday to authorize molnupiravir, a treatment developed by the US laboratory Merck (known as MSD outside the US), the first anti-coronavirus tablets on the market, making them a crucial tool in the fight against the pandemic.
According to a clinical trial conducted by Merck, the treatment has been shown to cut the risk of hospitalization in half. Patients should take it within days of a positive test.
The EMA in turn asked the population to get vaccinated as soon as possible to fight against “fourth wave“of the pandemic, which is strongly affecting Europe.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Thursday of the “very worrying” rate of the levels of spread of the virus in Europe. Germany that same day he broke his daily record of infections.
“The epidemiological situation in Europe today is very worrying,” said Fergus Sweeney, head of EMA’s clinical trials group.
“It is very important that we are all vaccinated, because we will not be protected until everyone is, “he added.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx