UK is first to approve oral antiviral pill to treat Covid
by Ian Sample Science editor from Science | The Guardian on (#5RGJS)
Pill can be taken twice daily at home and priority will be given to elderly patients and those with health vulnerabilities
The UK medicines regulator has become the first in the world to approve an oral antiviral pill for Covid in a move that paves the way for tens of thousands of vulnerable patients to receive the treatment from this winter.
Nearly half a million doses of molnupiravir, a pill that can be taken twice daily at home, are due for delivery from mid-November and will be given as a priority to elderly Covid patients and those with particular vulnerabilities, such as weakened immune systems. The drug will initially be given to patients through a national study run by the NHS.
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