Nov 4 (Reuters) – Britain on Thursday became the first country in the world to approve a potentially game-changing COVID-19 antiviral pill jointly developed by U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, in a boost to the fight against the pandemic.
Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recommended the drug, molnupiravir, for use in people with mild to moderate COVID-19 and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, such as obesity, older age diabetes, and heart disease.
It will be administered as soon as possible following a positive COVID-19 test and within five days of the onset of symptoms, the regulator said, citing clinical data.
The green light is the first for an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19 and the first for a COVID-19 drug that will be administered widely in the community. U.S. advisers will meet on Nov. 30 to review the drug’s safety and efficacy data and vote on whether molnupiravir should be authorized. Read more
The pill, which will be branded as Lagevrio in Britain, is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 and is taken twice a day for five days.
Drugs in the same class as molnupiravir have been linked to birth defects in animal studies. Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has said animal testing shows that molnupiravir is safe, but the data have not yet been made public.
Treatments to tackle the pandemic, which has killed more than 5.2 million people worldwide, have so far focused mainly on vaccines. Other options, including Gilead’s (GILD.O) infused antiviral remdesivir and generic steroid dexamethasone, are generally only given after a patient has been hospitalised.
Merck’s Molnupiravir has been closely watched since data last month showed it could halve the chances of dying or being hospitalised for those most at risk of developing severe COVID-19 when given early in the illness. read more
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the National Health Service (NHS) in England, said the drug would be administered to patients at higher risk of complications as Britain heads into one of the most challenging winters ever.
A wider rollout will follow if it is clinically and cost effective in reducing hospitalisations and death, he added.
Many other big economies, including Germany, France and Israel, have either retained some basic COVID-19 measures like mask mandates or reintroduced them in response to rising cases.
The UK government has said its focus remains on administering vaccine boosters and inoculating 12- to 15-year-olds.
“With no compromises on quality, safety and effectiveness, the public can trust that the MHRA has conducted a robust and thorough assessment of the data (on molnupiravir),” MHRA chief June Raine said in a statement.
Last month, Britain agreed a deal with Merck to secure 480,000 courses of molnupiravir.
Professor Penny Ward, an independent pharmaceutical physician, welcomed the approval, but said the NHS needed to outline its plans for rollout and cautioned that supplies were likely to be tight given the strong global demand.
“Comments made by Mr Javid today suggest that it may be made available via a clinical trial, presumably to investigate its effectiveness in vaccinated patients with breakthrough infections, as the original study incorporated unvaccinated adults,” she said.
If given to everyone becoming unwell, the nearly half a million courses would not last very long given the more than 40,000 current daily case rate, she said.
“We are now working across government and the NHS to urgently get this treatment to patients initially through a national study so we can collect more data on how antivirals work in a mostly vaccinated population,” UK vaccines minister Maggie Throup told parliament.
Pressures
The speedy approval in Britain, which was also the first Western country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, comes as it struggles to tame soaring infections.
Britain has about 40,000 daily cases of COVID-19, according to the latest seven-day average. That is second only to the roughly 74,000 a day in the United States, which has five times more people, and has fuelled criticism of the government’s decision to abandon most pandemic-related restrictions
Data released on Wednesday night showed COVID-19 prevalence in England hit its highest level on record last month, led by a high number of cases in children and a surge in the south-west of the country. read more
Pressure is growing on the government to implement its “Plan B” aimed at protecting the NHS from unsustainable demands, involving mask mandates, vaccine passes and work-from-home orders.
News
AI therapy may help with mental health, but innovation should never outpace ethics
Mental health services around the world are stretched thinner than ever. Long wait times, barriers to accessing care and rising rates of depression and anxiety have made it harder for people to get timely help. As a result, governments and health care providers are [...]
Global life expectancy plunges as WHO warns of deepening health crisis Post-COVID
The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm on the long-term health repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic in its newly released World Health Statistics Report 2025. The report reveals a staggering decline in global [...]
Researchers map brain networks involved in word retrieval
How are we able to recall a word we want to say? This basic ability, called word retrieval, is often compromised in patients with brain damage. Interestingly, many patients who can name words they [...]
Melting Ice Is Changing the Color of the Ocean – Scientists Are Alarmed
Melting sea ice changes not only how much light enters the ocean, but also its color, disrupting marine photosynthesis and altering Arctic ecosystems in subtle but profound ways. As global warming causes sea ice in the [...]
Your Washing Machine Might Be Helping Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Spread
A new study reveals that biofilms in washing machines may contain potential pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes, posing possible risks for laundering healthcare workers’ uniforms at home. Washing healthcare uniforms at home could be [...]
Scientists Discover Hidden Cause of Alzheimer’s Hiding in Plain Sight
Researchers found the PHGDH gene directly causes Alzheimer’s and discovered a drug-like molecule, NCT-503, that may help treat the disease early by targeting the gene’s hidden function. A recent study has revealed that a gene previously [...]
How Brain Cells Talk: Inside the Complex Language of the Human Mind
Introduction The human brain contains nearly 86 billion neurons, constantly exchanging messages like an immense social media network, but neurons do not work alone – glial cells, neurotransmitters, receptors, and other molecules form a vast [...]
Oxford study reveals how COVID-19 vaccines prevent severe illness
A landmark study by scientists at the University of Oxford, has unveiled crucial insights into the way that COVID-19 vaccines mitigate severe illness in those who have been vaccinated. Despite the global success of [...]
Annual blood test could detect cancer earlier and save lives
A single blood test, designed to pick up chemical signals indicative of the presence of many different types of cancer, could potentially thwart progression to advanced disease while the malignancy is still at an early [...]
How the FDA opens the door to risky chemicals in America’s food supply
Lining the shelves of American supermarkets are food products with chemicals linked to health concerns. To a great extent, the FDA allows food companies to determine for themselves whether their ingredients and additives are [...]
Superbug crisis could get worse, killing nearly 40 million people by 2050
The number of lives lost around the world due to infections that are resistant to the medications intended to treat them could increase nearly 70% by 2050, a new study projects, further showing the [...]
How Can Nanomaterials Be Programmed for Different Applications?
Nanomaterials are no longer just small—they are becoming smart. Across fields like medicine, electronics, energy, and materials science, researchers are now programming nanomaterials to behave in intentional, responsive ways. These advanced materials are designed [...]
Microplastics Are Invading Our Arteries, and It Could Be Increasing Your Risk of Stroke
Higher levels of micronanoplastics were found in carotid artery plaque, especially in people with stroke symptoms, suggesting a potential new risk factor. People with plaque buildup in the arteries of their neck have been [...]
Gene-editing therapy shows early success in fighting advanced gastrointestinal cancers
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have completed a first-in-human clinical trial testing a CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique to help the immune system fight advanced gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. The results, recently published in The Lancet Oncology, show encouraging [...]
Engineered extracellular vesicles facilitate delivery of advanced medicines
Graphic abstract of the development of VEDIC and VFIC systems for high efficiency intracellular protein delivery in vitro and in vivo. Credit: Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59377-y. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59377-y Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have developed a technique [...]
Brain-computer interface allows paralyzed users to customize their sense of touch
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists are one step closer to developing a brain-computer interface, or BCI, that allows people with tetraplegia to restore their lost sense of touch. While exploring a digitally [...]
