Mexico grants emergency use approval for Merck's COVID-19 pill

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: A handout photo of an experimental COVID-19 treatment pill, called molnupiravir and being developed by Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP
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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's health regulator has granted authorization for emergency use of drugmaker Merck's COVID-19 pill Molnupiravir, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday.

The health regulator, COFEPRIS, confirmed the approval in a statement later in the day.

COFEPRIS was expected to soon also approve Pfizer's Paxlovid pill to treat COVID-19, Lopez Obrador added at a regular news conference. Both medications were approved last month in the United States.

Molnupiravir was developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by around 30% in a clinical trial of high-risk individuals early in the course of the illness.

Lopez Obrador said he planned to make both medications available in public hospitals.

(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Dave Graham and Sandra Maler)