Pharma major Hetero has said that Phase III trials of its Movfor (Molnupiravir), an investigational oral antiviral Covid-19 medicine, are positive.
The results, presented as an Oral Abstract at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) held virtually this week, has demonstrated that Molnupiravir along with Standard of Care (SoC) reduced the risk of hospitalisation by over 65 per cent, compared to SoC alone.
“Early viral clearance (negative RT-PCR) and significant clinical improvement were observed within 5 days of administering the antiviral drug. There were no fatalities reported during the study,” the company has said in a statement.
The study enrolled 1,218 eligible patients within five days of the onset of Covid-19 symptoms and were administered with Molnupiravir capsules (800 mg twice daily) for five days.
The SoC medication was administered thru the period as defined by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in its guidelines during the medication.
Hetero has tied up with MSD last year for the manufacturing and distribution of the drug. Under this licensing deal, Hetero was allowed to expand access of Molnupiravir in India and in other low-and middle-income countries, after getting necessary approvals from the respective local regulatory agencies.