According to an executive of Merck, the Covid-19 oral pill of the company called molnupiravir is able to perform in a manner of action that can work against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus variant as well as any other variant of the virus.
"We're very confident that it will affect Omicron ... This mechanism in molecule (will) work for Omicron, and I would imagine against any variant that comes up," Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, said at J.P. Morgan's annual healthcare conference.
Although there is no evidence on molnupiravir's effectiveness against Omicron, according to the most recent data provided in November, the tablet was shown to be 30 per cent effective in lowering hospitalizations and fatalities, based on data from 1,433 patients.
However, when compared to the earlier number of 50%, this data demonstrated much less effectiveness.
The pill was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last month, as well as in numerous other nations such as the United Kingdom, Japan, and India, with several countries, including the United States, signing agreements to purchase the drug.
On the other hand, Albert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfizer Inc expects that the company expects that its efforts to create a redesigned Covid-19 vaccine that would be specifically aimed to work against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would be the "most likely scenario."
Work by Pdizer and its partner BioNTech SE on a vaccine that is able to target and work against the Omicron variant is currently ongoing, Bourla said while speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. He said that the vaccine whose work is in progress would also include a shot that would comprise of both the earlier vaccine made by the companies as well as the vaccine that would be targeted at the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
According to Bourla, the company might be ready to petition for approval and begin production of a modified vaccine as early as March.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
"We're very confident that it will affect Omicron ... This mechanism in molecule (will) work for Omicron, and I would imagine against any variant that comes up," Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, said at J.P. Morgan's annual healthcare conference.
Although there is no evidence on molnupiravir's effectiveness against Omicron, according to the most recent data provided in November, the tablet was shown to be 30 per cent effective in lowering hospitalizations and fatalities, based on data from 1,433 patients.
However, when compared to the earlier number of 50%, this data demonstrated much less effectiveness.
The pill was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last month, as well as in numerous other nations such as the United Kingdom, Japan, and India, with several countries, including the United States, signing agreements to purchase the drug.
On the other hand, Albert Bourla, the chief executive of Pfizer Inc expects that the company expects that its efforts to create a redesigned Covid-19 vaccine that would be specifically aimed to work against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus would be the "most likely scenario."
Work by Pdizer and its partner BioNTech SE on a vaccine that is able to target and work against the Omicron variant is currently ongoing, Bourla said while speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. He said that the vaccine whose work is in progress would also include a shot that would comprise of both the earlier vaccine made by the companies as well as the vaccine that would be targeted at the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
According to Bourla, the company might be ready to petition for approval and begin production of a modified vaccine as early as March.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
Homepage
Send to a friend
Printable version
Share
