• The expert panel is expected to recommend the quantities of Molnupiravir to be imported and the dates, if the government decides to purchase the drug

By Sandun A Jayasekera

Sri Lanka is mulling over the idea to purchase a stock of the wonder drug Molnupiravir to keep the Covid 19 Pandemic under control following the approval to use the orally administered drug in Britain.

State Minister of Production, Supply and Registration of Pharmaceuticals Prof. Channa Jayasumana has instructed the Director General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardana to advise him on how to proceed with if and when Sri Lanka decides to place a purchase order with the US producer of Molnupiravir, the pharmaceutical giant Merck based on the feasibility study conducted by the expert panel appointed by Minister Prof. Jayasumana in October on the subject.         

The expert panel is expected to recommend the quantities of Molnupiravir to be imported and the dates, if the government decides to purchase the drug.

A number of countries in East Asia like Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and also Australia have already imported the drug and begun prescribing the only orally administered drug - a product of the pharmaceutical giant of the US Merck with excellent results, Minister Prof. Jayasumana said. 

            
Clinical trials have proved that the pill cuts hospitalisations and deaths among people with COVID-19 by half. The results haven’t yet been peer reviewed. But if the drug candidate, Molnupiravir, is authorised by regulators, it would be the first oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19. By contrast, the other currently authorised drugs must be delivered intravenously or injected.    

•  Clinical trials have proved that the pill cuts hospitalisations and deaths among people with COVID-19 by half