Singapore to buy anti-COVID drug Molnupiravir, said to be effective against all variants

Singapore — An agreement for Singapore to buy a supply of Molnupiravir, an oral Covid-19 antiviral drug from pharmaceutical company Merck, was announced on Wednesday (Oct 6).

The announcement from Merck, known as MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme) in other countries, comes one day after Singapore saw a record-high number of new Covid infections of 3,490.

Merck said Molnupiravir will be made available after authorisation and approval for its use have been given.

On Oct 1, data from clinical trials showed that Molnupiravir may cut in half the possibility of hospitalisation or death for patients at risk of severe disease due to Covid-19.

Merck has said that Molnupiravir is most likely to be effective against all known coronavirus variants, as it does not affect the spike protein that makes each variant different.

The drug, which Merck hopes will be the first oral antiviral medication for the infection, was designed to introduce errors into the virus’ genetic code and Merck is currently waiting on approval for Molnupiravir from the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Singapore is the latest in the Asia-Pacific region to order a supply of Molnupiravir.

Australia already placed an order for the drug, while South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia are now in discussions with Merck for the purchase of Molnupiravir. In the Philippines, clinical trials of the experimental drug are being conducted in two hospitals.

The Ministry of Health and the Health Sciences Authority have yet to comment on Merck’s announcement.

Robert M. Davis, chief executive officer and president of MSD said, “More tools and treatments are urgently needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has become a leading cause of death and continues to profoundly affect patients, families, and societies and strain health care systems all around the world. 

With these compelling results, we are optimistic that molnupiravir can become an important medicine as part of the global efforts to fight the pandemic and will add to MSD’s unique legacy of bringing forward breakthroughs in infectious diseases when they are needed most. 

Consistent with MSD’s unwavering commitment to save and improve lives, we will continue to work with regulatory agencies on our applications and do everything we can to bring molnupiravir to patients as quickly as possible.” /TISG