Health & Beauty

On October 20, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it would commit up to US$120 million to help low-income countries accelerate the acquisition of the oral anti-coronavirus drug Molnupiravir (Molnupiravir) under development.

Monupivir is a drug being developed jointly by Merck and Ridgeback Biopharmaceuticals. The interim analysis results of the previous phase three clinical trials showed that monupivir can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death for mild and moderate patients with new crowns by 50 %. 7.3% of patients treated with monupivir were hospitalized within 29 days, compared to 14.1% of patients in the placebo control group who were hospitalized or died on day 29. There were no deaths in patients taking monupivir, while a total of 8 deaths were reported among patients taking placebo.

Studies have also shown that the efficacy of monupivir is not affected by the time of onset of symptoms or the patient's potential risk factors. The drug has also been shown to be effective against all variants of the new crown virus, including the variant new crown virus strain delta. Merck said that if the regulatory agency approves the emergency use of monupivir, the drug is expected to become the first oral drug for the treatment of new coronary pneumonia. On October 11, Merck applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency approval of the oral drug for COVID-19.

However, judging from the current situation of epidemic prevention, low-income countries have not been treated equally, whether it is personal protective equipment for the new crown virus or the new crown vaccine. The Gates Foundation said that from the perspective of the time span of global supply of health products, the time difference between obtaining the same product in high-income countries and low-income countries is usually up to 12 months or more. The goal of the Gates Foundation is to shorten the time required for new drugs to enter low-income countries after they are marketed in high-income countries.

Although the new drug has not yet been approved, many wealthy countries have already signed orders in advance. According to reports from Bloomberg and other foreign media, the United States paid US$1.2 billion to Merck in June this year for the purchase of 1.7 million courses of monupivir. Since then, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and New Zealand have all placed orders for monupivir. According to data from London-based analysis company Airfinity, about 10 countries have signed a procurement contract for "Monupivir" or are in the process of negotiating a purchase.

It is understood that the US$120 million pledged funding this time comes from the Strategic Investment Fund of the Gates Foundation. Since monupivir can reduce hospitalizations, and at the same time, combined with the increase in vaccination rates and the existing treatments for severe and critical patients to save more lives, the foundation will negotiate with partners how to use the funds to support development and production Relevant work on monupivir generic drugs.

In addition, Merck also made a commitment to obtain monupivir in low-income countries. According to a Reuters report on October 8, Merck has reached a licensing agreement with eight Indian drugmakers that will allow cheaper generic drugs to be sold in 109 low- and middle-income countries, including Africa.

Bill Gates, co-chairman of the foundation, publicly stated that Merck has done a lot of work on the popularization of monupivir, such as negotiating licensing matters with generic drug manufacturers to expand drug supply. "Providing these life-saving drugs to everyone in need is very necessary for ending the emergency phase of the epidemic and opening the road to recovery." Bill Gates said.