The Department of Health has announced the purchase of 300,000 courses of the COVID-19 treatment drug, Molnupiravir.
In a statement, the Department said Molnupiravir was an oral antiviral treatment that was being developed for the first-line treatment of COVID-19 in adult patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms.
“Treatment with Molnupiravir has been shown to stop people with COVID-19 developing serious symptoms, keeping them out of hospital and preventing serious illness and death,” the Department said.
“Whilst Molnupiravir is in late-stage clinical trials, the agreement between Merck Sharp & Dohme is for supply to Australia should it be approved by the Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA), which could occur in early 2022,” it said.
Prime Minister, Scott Morrison said vaccines and new treatments like Molnupiravir would help boost the National Plan to safely reopen Australia and keep Australia safely open.
“If the medical experts at the TGA approve this treatment for use, it will join other COVID-19 treatments such as sotrovimab and remdesivir which are already available to Australian doctors to help treat those with COVID-19,” Mr Morrison said.
The Department said Molnupiravir was a capsule taken twice a day for five days by adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms.
It said Molnupiravir did not need to be refrigerated, allowing it to be used in the community or as a targeted intervention at high-risk locations and in rural areas.
