Federal government secures 300,000 doses of Covid-19 drug Molnupiravir from Merck

A new pill found to halve people’s chances of dying or being hospitalised due to Covid-19 is on its way to Australia, with the federal government securing 300,000 courses.

A groundbreaking new pill found to halve people’s chances of dying or being hospitalised due to Covid-19 will be available in Australia by as early as the first three months of next year, with the federal government securing 300,000 courses.

The pill, Molnupiravir, produced by pharmaceutical giant Merck, has been shown in clinical trials to stop people with COVID-19 developing serious symptoms, keeping them out of hospital and preventing serious illness and death.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and federal health minister Greg Hunt have announced the country has secured a deal to buy 300,000 courses of Molnupiravir.

But it is still in late stage clinical trials and will need to gain Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approval.

Capsules of antiviral drug Molnupiravir.

Mr Hunt believes if all goes well the pill could be available in Australia by the first half of 2022, or even as early as the end of March 2022.

Molnupiravir works by introducing errors into the genetic code of the virus, preventing it from spreading in the body.

The drug, which comes in capsule form, would be taken twice a day for five days in adult patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 symptoms.

And it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, meaning it can be used at home or as a “targeted intervention at high-risk locations and in rural areas”.

The drug is the third in a suite of Covid-19 treatments purchased by the federal government, alongside remdesivir and sotrovimab, which are already being used to treat patients with COVID-19 across the country.

Mr Hunt on Monday announced a further 15,000 doses of the monoclonal antibody, sotrovimab, which reduces the risk of hospitalisation and death among adults at risk of severe Covid-19 by 79 per cent, have arrived in Australia.