[ti:Drug Company Reports Success in Testing COVID-19 Pill]
[by:www.21voa.com]
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[00:00.04]American drug-maker Merck said Friday
[00:03.64]that its experimental pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths
[00:10.48]by half among people infected with COVID-19 in a drug trial.
[00:18.80]The drug-maker said it will soon ask health officials
[00:23.84]in the United States and around the world
[00:27.48]to approve the pill for the treatment of coronavirus.
[00:33.36]If cleared, the drug, called molnupiravir,
[00:38.60]would be the first pill approved for the treatment of COVID-19.
[00:44.88]All other approved treatments must be injected
[00:49.80]or given through IV by healthcare workers.
[00:54.84]A pill can be taken at home and is easier to send around the world.
[01:02.36]Dr. William Schaffner is an infectious disease expert
[01:07.80]at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the research.
[01:14.72]He said such a pill would provide treatment to "many more people,
[01:21.32]much more quickly and, we trust, much less expensively."
[01:29.44]And Dr. Anthony Fauci has also said a pill that can be taken at home
[01:37.28]as soon as people feel sick will help control the virus.
[01:44.20]Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics
[01:48.36]studied 775 people with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19
[01:56.00]in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Africa.
[02:02.64]The patients also had existing health problems
[02:06.80]that increased their risk for severe disease.
[02:13.60]Patients who received the experimental pill
[02:18.16]within five days of COVID-19 symptoms
[02:22.52]had about half the rate of hospitalization and death
[02:27.12]as those who received a placebo.
[02:31.56]A placebo is a pill that has an inactive substance.
[02:37.92]Merck said only about seven percent of the patients
[02:43.56]who received the experimental pill went to the hospital or died
[02:49.32]after 30 days compared to 14 percent who received a placebo.
[02:58.28]Patients in the Merck study were not vaccinated for COVID-19.
[03:04.04]Merck said there were some side effects among both groups
[03:08.40]but did not describe them.
[03:11.56]The drug-maker said its pill works by preventing the virus
[03:16.44]from easily reproducing itself.
[03:20.96]But earlier studies showed the drug
[03:24.00]did not help people who were already very sick.
[03:29.56]A group of independent experts following the trial
[03:33.76]advised Merck to stop it early
[03:37.96]because the pill seemed to be working so well.
[03:42.68]Merck said it will soon send the trial results
[03:47.00]to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review.
[03:54.76]Dr. Dean Li is the vice president of Merck Research Laboratories.
[04:02.72]He said: "It exceeded what I thought the drug
[04:06.68]might be able to do in this clinical trial."
[04:11.12]Li noted that a 50 percent reduction in hospitalization or death
[04:16.48]is "a substantial clinical impact."
[04:21.84]Merck said it can produce 10 million treatments by the end of the year.
[04:28.24]The U.S. already plans to buy nearly 2 million treatments
[04:33.64]if it is approved by the FDA.
[04:37.84]Pfizer and Roche, two other drug companies,
[04:42.32]are working on similar products
[04:45.00]and may have results from their drug trials soon.
[04:49.12]I'm Dan Friedell. 更多听力请访问21VOA.COM