Pharmaceutical Company Merck's Oral COVID-19 Treatment Shows Effectiveness in Vietnam Clinical Trial

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] In Vietnam, the oral COVID-19 treatment drug 'Molnupiravir' has shown effects such as reducing viral load according to clinical trial results.

On the 7th, local media VN Express reported that the Vietnamese Ministry of Health announced the clinical trial results of Molnupiravir the day before.

In clinical trials conducted across 22 cities and provinces, Molnupiravir was proven safe and effective in reducing viral load, infectivity, and treatment duration.

For example, after taking the treatment for five days, the proportion of patients with low viral load increased from 72.1% to 99.1%.

No deaths occurred during the clinical trials.

Regarding this, Nguyen Thanh Long, Minister of Health, stated that the clinical results were positive and consistent with the pharmaceutical company's explanation.

He added, "Even if there were side effects, they disappeared after a day or two," and mentioned that a substantial amount of the treatment drug has been imported.

Molnupiravir, developed by the US company Merck & Co. (MSD), is administered twice daily for five days per patient. On the 4th, it received the world's first conditional approval for use in the UK, and clinical trials began in Vietnam in August.

Neighboring countries are also actively purchasing Molnupiravir.

Philippine pharmaceutical importer Medetics announced last month that it will import enough Molnupiravir for 300,000 people within this month.

Additionally, the local government has currently approved 'compassionate use' of Molnupiravir at 31 hospitals.

The Malaysian Ministry of Health and the Singapore government have also each signed purchase agreements with Merck.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.