Molnupiravir’s authorisation was premature

Abstract

On 1 October 2021 Merck issued a press release 1 reporting an interim analysis of Move-Out, a phase 3 randomised placebo controlled trial in unvaccinated adults with confirmed SARS-Co-V infection and mild-to-moderate symptoms outside hospital. The press release stated that molnupiravir, a nucleoside analogue that inhibits viral replication by mutagenesis, reduced risk of hospital admission or death by about 50% (P=0.0012) in the 29 days after infection.

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