Sun Pharma to launch Merck’s COVID pill under brand name Molxvir in India

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries on Thursday said it is gearing up to introduce Merck Sharp Dohme (MSD) and Ridgeback’s molnupiravir pill, used for the treatment of Covid-19, under the brand name ‘Molxvir’ in India.

Earlier this year, Sun Pharma had signed a non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreement with MSD to manufacture and supply molnupiravir in India and to over 100 low- and middle-income countries.

Molnupiravir is the first oral antiviral approved by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults.

It is under review by the US Food and Drug Administration for the emergency use authorisation.

“The recent authorisation of molnupiravir, licensed from MSD and Ridgeback, by the UK regulator is a positive step.

“In line with our consistent efforts to accelerate access to new drugs for COVID-19 treatment, we are gearing up to make Molxvir available to patients and healthcare providers across India at an economical price post approval by DCGI,” Sun Pharma India Business CEO Kirti Ganorkar said in a statement.

Molxvir will be manufactured at one of the company’s plants in India and it has enough capacity to meet the demand, he added.

In the Phase-III trial by Merck, Molnupiravir significantly reduced the risk of hospitalisation or death by around 50 per cent in a planned interim analysis of the MOVe-OUT trial in at risk, non-hospitalised adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19.

Additionally, based on the participants with available viral sequencing data (around 40 per cent of participants), molnupiravir demonstrated consistent efficacy across viral variants like Gamma, Delta and Mu.

The United Kingdom last week became the first country to authorize molnupiravir. In a clinical trial, the antiviral was shown to cut Covid hospitalizations by 50 percent among newly infected people, and also prevented 100 percent of deaths.

Molnupiravir, as a small molecule, has the advantages of not requiring cold-storage like messenger RNA vaccines.

Pfizer has also announced promising results for its oral Covid pill, paxlovid, and expects to produce 180,000 courses this year, and at least 50 million next year. Mint