Dr Marc Siegel says a new experimental pill developed to treat COVID-19 could be the ‘holy grail of therapeutic drugs’ used against the virus. The first phase trial of Molnupiravir, developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, showed promising signs of efficacy in reducing the virus in patients.
COVID-19 PILL EFFECTIVE IN PRELIMINARY TESTING CAN BE ‘HOLY GRAIL’ FROM PANDEMY, DR. MARC SIEGEL SAY
“This is actually something you can take on the first day,” Siegel said Monday on “America’s Newsroom.”
“In trials, phase two trials, it shows that it gets rid of the virus completely, where you can see no evidence of the virus,” he added. “It therefore cuts down dramatically on the seriousness of matters.”
Fox News’ medical associate told Dana Perino the drug had yet to be tested on larger groups of people.
“What’s left is to try it in thousands and thousands of people,” Siegel said. “And if it goes through and it works, we’re going to have something we really need.”
“What’s important is that it’s safe so far … Of all the drugs we’ve tested, this is the first we see that can work really, very, very early,” he said. Siegel added that the remedy could be useful “for people who get it [coronavirus] even if they have been vaccinated, or people who have not yet been vaccinated, or people who cannot be vaccinated. “
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The medication can serve as a five-day home treatment, similar to Tamiflu, to prevent the virus from reproducing before it has caused major damage. That would require a prescription from a doctor, Siegel said.
“Many patients who, according to my flu, give them Tamiflu,” he said. “If I had patients who I thought were COVID, I would give it.”
Fox News’ Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.