The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is opening up to emergency use of Merck's coronavirus medications. This means that it can also be used in Norway.
"The drug, which has not yet been approved in the EU, can be used to treat adults with COVID-19 who do not need additional oxygen and have an increased risk of serious COvid-19 disease," the EMA announced Friday.
Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB
In this way, the drug can be used until final, formal approval.
- This is a joint European council, and the decisions made will, in principle, also apply to us - says medical director Steinar Madsen from the Norwegian Medicines Agency.
He calls this decision "expected result" and "satisfactory development".
The pill was previously approved in the UK. Merck said in early October that this drug, which contains molnupiravir, could halve the risk of hospitalization and death.
It is clear that we need all the tools at our disposal that we can obtain to contain the pandemic. We can now see that vaccination is not enough. It will be very exciting and hopeful to see how the new drugs will be used in the future, says Madsen.
That's it Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Ministry of Health and health funds will evaluate every use of medicines in the future.
EMA also began assessing whether Pfizer's drug could be used in an emergency. The pill has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths among coronavirus patients.
"Not only are we getting this drug now, but there are many others that seem to have a good effect on protecting against serious complications and death," says Madsen.
Source: NTB
(Merck & Co. via AP, File)
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