The Food and Drug Administration voted in favor of recommending the authorization of the Merck COVID-19 treatment pill

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday voted 13-10 to recommend the agency authorize a COVID-19 treatment pill manufactured by Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. The recommendation paves the way for emergency use authorization (EUA).

A FDA advisory panel just voted 13-10 to recommend Merck’s experimental antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 for emergency use, paving the way for the agency to clear the first oral drug for the disease.

A panel of health experts appointed by the US government voted to recommend Merck’s Covid pill for high-risk adult patients, a new form of treatment that is easy to administer and could prove more able to withstand variants, including Omicron.

What people are saying?

Berkeley Lovelace But despite the vote in favor of the drug, made by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, committee members raised numerous questions and expressed concerns during the daylong public meeting.

Elaine Taylor “That’s less effective than the currently authorized monoclonal antibody treatments, which have been shown to reduce the risk of severe outcomes from Covid by at least 70 percent.“ I work with Covid-19 patients. Monoclonal antibody infusion therapy for me. Easy decision.