Locally-made Molnupiravir drugs to be licenced
The council has proposed approval of using the drug in emergency cases to the government. It is expected that the licence will be issued for three types of Molnupiravir drugs manufactured by three domestic pharmaceutical companies.
Of the three, the drug manufactured by Stellapharm Vietnam was approved for clinical trials.
The ministry has piloted using Molnupiravir for Covid-19 patients who are treated at home with mild or no symptoms in Ho Chi Minh City from last August. Molnupiravir has been used in 46 provinces and cities.
Molnupiravir proved safe, and has proved its obvious effectiveness in reducing viral load, virus spread and the number of severe cases, and shortening treatment time, with no fatalities recorded.
Molnupiravir is developed by the US-based pharmaceutical companies Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck & Co., Inc.
