Molnupiravir drugs. Photo covid19.gov.vn

HÀ NỘI — The advisory council of the Ministry of Health has agreed to a proposal to grant registration certificates for conditional circulation of three medicines containing Molnupiravir, for COVID-19 treatment.

The health ministry said on Wednesday that the council decided to submit the proposal after making thorough and careful consideration of opinions from specialised units and experts.

To strictly control medicine quality, the council requested that manufacturers examine material quality before production; continue monitoring and examining drug quality on a monthly basis after receiving the certificates and present reports to authorised agencies; and continue studying the medicines’ stability and submit research findings and expiry date updates, in accordance with the ASEAN Common Technical Dossier.

The Minister of Health asked managerial and specialised agencies to keep strict control of quality and prices in line with the Law on Pharmacy and to fight against any negative effects in medicine supply.

Earlier, 10 Vietnamese pharmaceutical companies submitted procedures for the issuance of registration numbers for medicines containing Molnupiravir.

Molnupiravir has been used globally to treat mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients.

The medication has proved to be safe and effective at reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death among mild to moderate patients who are at increased risk of developing severe symptoms.

Since mid August, the ministry has implemented a pilot scheme to use Molnupiravir for mild and asymptomatic cases at home.

The scheme was first deployed in HCM City and has so far been replicated in 51 cities and provinces, with 300,000 doses provided.

Molnupiravir is safe and well-accepted, and has obvious effectiveness in reducing viral load, virus spread and the number of severe cases, and shortening treatment time, with no fatalities recorded. 

Molnupiravir was developed by the US-based pharmaceutical companies Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck & Co. — VNS