Pharmaceutical firm Faberco Life Sciences Inc. (Faberco) said that the move of the Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow the emergency use of Molnarz, a brand of the antiviral drug molnupiravir, will help the country in its ongoing fight against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
“This development is another big step in the country’s still ongoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and will provide Filipinos more options for treatment,” said Faberco Chairman of the Board Vinay Panemanglor in a statement.
Faberco applied for the emergency use authorization of molnupiravir last November. The FDA granted the EUA this month.
This pill was approved for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 cases of adults aged 18 and above.
"Molnupiravir was developed by Merck & Co. It is likely to be effective against all known coronavirus variants as it does not target the spike protein of the virus that differentiates the variants," said Faberco.
"It is the first oral antiviral drug that will prevent mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 from progressing into severe disease that needs hospitalization," it added.
"Faberco started distributing the drug to several private hospitals in the country in November through its partner RiteMED under the Compassionate Special Permit it received from the FDA," it furthered.