France Cancels Merck COVID-19 Oral Treatment Order..."Will Receive Pfizer Treatment"

Order Cancellations Following 30% Treatment Efficiency News
Pfizer's Paxlovid Expected to Have 89% Effectiveness

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] French health authorities announced that they will cancel the advance purchase agreement for the COVID-19 oral antiviral drug 'Molnupiravir,' developed by the American pharmaceutical company Merck. The French government plans to import Pfizer's oral antiviral drug 'Paxlovid,' known for its higher treatment efficacy, as Molnupiravir is reported to have only about 30% effectiveness.

According to Bloomberg on the 22nd (local time), Olivier V?ran, France's Minister of Health, stated in an interview with French BFM TV, "We have decided to cancel the pre-order of 50,000 doses of Merck's oral antiviral Molnupiravir due to unfavorable recent study results," adding, "There will be no additional costs from canceling the contract, and we are waiting to receive Pfizer's treatment by next month."

As the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is scheduled to decide next month on the emergency use authorization of oral antiviral drugs from Merck and Pfizer, France became the first among countries with pre-order agreements to cancel the contract. The main reason for the French government's cancellation was the recent downward revision of Molnupiravir's treatment efficacy to 30%.

According to The New York Times (NYT), on the 30th of last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lowered Molnupiravir's treatment efficacy from the previous 50% to 30%. Earlier, Merck had claimed that administering Molnupiravir every 12 hours for five days to patients with mild COVID-19 reduced severe progression and mortality by 50%, but recent studies have shown reduced effectiveness.

Consequently, global health authorities are focusing their attention on Pfizer's oral antiviral drug Paxlovid. Recent clinical trial results indicate that Paxlovid has a treatment efficacy of 89%. The U.S. FDA also approved the emergency use of Paxlovid on the same day. The FDA announced, "We approve the emergency use of Pfizer's Paxlovid treatment for COVID-19 patients aged 12 and older who are vulnerable to severe disease due to underlying conditions such as obesity and diabetes."

U.S. President Joe Biden, in an official statement following the FDA approval, said, "The government has already secured 10 million doses of Paxlovid, and 250,000 doses will be supplied in January next year." The Biden administration also promised government-level support to increase Pfizer's production speed.

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