Merck's pill for Covid-19 'effective against all variants'


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An experimental antiviral pill developed by Merck & Co could halve the chances of dying or being admitted to hospital for those most at risk of contracting severe Covid-19, according to data experts.

If it receives authorisation, molnupiravir, which is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus, would be the first oral antiviral medication for Covid-19.

Antiviral treatments that can be taken at home to keep people with Covid-19 out of the hospital are critically needed
Wendy Holman,
Ridgeback chief executive

Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said they planned to seek US emergency use authorisation for the pill as soon as possible and make regulatory applications worldwide.

"An oral antiviral that can impact hospitalisation risk to such a degree would be game changing," said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security.

Current treatment options include Gilead Sciences' infused antiviral remdesivir and generic steroid dexamethasone, both of which are generally only given once a patient has already been admitted to hospital.

"This is going to change the dialogue around how to manage Covid-19," Merck chief executive Robert Davis told Reuters.

Existing treatments are "cumbersome and logistically challenging to administer", Mr Adalja said.

"A simple oral pill would be the opposite of that," he said.

The results from the Phase 3 trial, which sent Merck shares up by more than 9 per cent, were so strong the study is being stopped early at the recommendation of outside monitors.

Shares of Atea Pharmaceuticals, which is developing a similar Covid-19 treatment, were up by more than 21 per cent following the news.

Shares of Covid-19 vaccine makers Moderna were down by more than 10 per cent, while Pfizer was down less than 1 per cent.

Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said investors believed "people will be less afraid of Covid and less inclined to get vaccines if there is a simple pill that can treat Covid".

Pfizer and Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG are also racing to develop an easy-to-administer antiviral pill for Covid-19. For now, only antibody cocktails that have to be given intravenously are approved for patients who have not been admitted to hospital.

White House Covid-19 response co-ordinator Jeff Zients said molnupiravir was "a potential additional tool ... to protect people from the worst outcomes of Covid".

But he said vaccination "remains far and away, our best tool against Covid-19".

A planned interim analysis of 775 patients in Merck's study looked at hospital admissions or deaths among people at risk of severe disease. It found 7.3 per cent of those given molnupiravir twice a day for five days were admitted to hospital and none had died by 29 days after treatment.

By contrast, a rate of 14.1 per cent of placebo patients were admitted to hospital. There were also eight deaths in the placebo group.

"Antiviral treatments that can be taken at home to keep people with Covid-19 out of the hospital are critically needed,” said Wendy Holman, chief executive of Ridgeback.

'A huge advance'

Scientists welcomed the potential new treatment to help prevent serious illness from the virus, which has killed almost five million people around the world, 700,000 of them in the US.

“A safe, affordable, and effective oral antiviral would be a huge advance in the fight against Covid," said Peter Horby, a professor of emerging infectious diseases at the University of Oxford.

The study enrolled patients with laboratory-confirmed mild-to-moderate Covid-19, who had symptoms for no more than five days. All patients had at least one risk factor associated with poor disease outcome, such as obesity or older age.

Drugs in the same class as molnupiravir have been linked to birth defects in animal studies. Merck has said similar studies of molnupiravir – for longer and at higher doses than used in humans – indicate the drug does not affect mammalian DNA.

Merck said viral sequencing carried out so far showed molnupiravir was effective against all variants of the coronavirus, including the highly transmissible Delta strain, which has driven the recent worldwide surge in hospital admissions and deaths.

It said rates of adverse events were similar for both molnupiravir and placebo patients, but did not give details.

The US drugmaker said it expected to produce 10 million courses of the treatment by the end of 2021.

The company has a US government contract to supply 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir at a price of $700 for every course.

Mr Davis said Merck had similar agreements with other governments, and was in talks with more. The company said it planned to create a tiered pricing approach based on country income criteria.

The US government has the option to purchase up to an additional 3.5 million treatment courses if needed, a US health official told Reuters.

Merck has also agreed to license the drug to several generic drugmakers in India. They would be able to supply the treatment to low and middle-income countries.

Molnupiravir is also being studied in a Phase 3 trial for preventing infection in people exposed to the coronavirus.

Merck officials said it was unclear how long the FDA review would take, although Dean Li, head of the company's research labs, said "they are going to try to work with alacrity on this".

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

The biog

Age: 23

Occupation: Founder of the Studio, formerly an analyst at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi

Education: Bachelor of science in industrial engineering

Favourite hobby: playing the piano

Favourite quote: "There is a key to every door and a dawn to every dark night"

Family: Married and with a daughter

While you're here
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The Bio

Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village

What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft

Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans

Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
RESULTS

6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m

Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)

7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m

Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

7.40pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar

8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m

Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara

8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.

9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor

10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m

Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.

WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?

1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull

2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight

3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge

4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own

5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

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War and the virus
Brief scoreline:

Liverpool 2

Keita 5', Firmino 26'

Porto 0

MATCH INFO

Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)

TV: BeIN Sports

Scoreline

Swansea 2

Grimes 20' (pen), Celina, 29'

Man City 3

Silva 69', Nordfeldt 78' (og), Aguero 88'

The specs

Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 582bhp

Torque: 730Nm

Price: Dh649,000

On sale: now  

The biog

Name: Fareed Lafta

Age: 40

From: Baghdad, Iraq

Mission: Promote world peace

Favourite poet: Al Mutanabbi

Role models: His parents 

'Project Power'

Stars: Jamie Foxx, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dominique Fishback

Director: ​Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman

Rating: 3.5/5

'Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'
Michael Beckley, Cornell Press

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Defence review at a glance

• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”

• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems

• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.

• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%

• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade

• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

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Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Company%20profile
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Company%20Profile
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Planes grounded by coronavirus

British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China 

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30

Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong

Ai Seoul:  Suspended all flights to China

Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March

Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February

South Korea's Asiana Airlines,  Jeju Air  and Jin Air: Suspend all flights

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

The specs: 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV

Price, base: Dh138,000 (estimate)
Engine: 60kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed Electronic Precision Shift
Power: 204hp
Torque: 360Nm
​​​​​​​Range: 520km (claimed)

Punchy appearance

Roars of support buoyed Mr Johnson in an extremely confident and combative appearance

Company%20profile
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Updated: October 02, 2021, 2:19 PM`