days. The medication is intended for individuals who are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 or requiring hospitalization. He noted that Paxlovid, another Pfizer medication, may require more time to get approved.
Dr Ram stated that the two medications will make a difference when we transition from the pandemic to endemic, and will become more critical than immunization. He referred to the treatments as “the final nail in the coffin of the virus by science” and said, “I think Molnupiravir will be available to us. Five companies are sitting with the drug manufacturer… I think any day we will have approval of Molnupiravir”.
Dr Ram said that Molnupiravir data had been submitted to the regulator here before the UK regulator’s clearance. He said, “So already SECs are looking at it. And I think they will get faster approval now. And therefore, it would be safe to say that within the next one month, there would be a decision on approval for the Merck drug”.
According to Pfizer, scientific trials show that Paxlovid reduces the risk of hospitalization or mortality in susceptible individuals by 89%. He said, “Merck has already contracted five companies and the way Merck has given this license to several companies, Pfizer will also do so because Pfizer will have to utilise the Indian capacity to manufacture the drugs that are required for the global use”.
Dr Ram stated that the cost will be far less than the 700 dollars being evaluated in the United States for the Merck vaccine, because it is expensive in the US for a variety of reasons, other than the production costs. He explained, “I think here when the government of India comes into play, they will buy in bulk from these companies and of course, they will have a dual pricing system and a staggered pricing system”. He stated that the cost may initially range from INR 2000 to 3000 or 4000 for every cycle of therapy, but would eventually fall to INR 500 to 600 or 1,000 later.
