Merck's Covid pill shows promise after clinical trials; Ethiopia expels UN officials trying to provide aid to the conflict-torn Tigray region. Tonight's Sentences was written by Ellen Ioanes. Merck's Covid pill cuts risk of death, serious illness Apu Gomes / AFP via Getty Images - Merck and partner company Ridgeback Therapeutics are seeking emergency use authorization for their new Covid pill; early results in a study showed the pill cut the risk of death or hospitalization from Covid in half for infected patients. [AP / Matthew Perrone]
- The drug, molnupiravir, prevents the virus from replicating by placing errors within the virus's genome, a process called lethal mutagenesis, when taken within five days after infection. [Nature / Brandon Malone and Elizabeth A. Campbell]
- Unlike current treatments for Covid, molnupiravir could be administered at home, making it more accessible while also easing the burden on overcrowded hospitals. [Politico / Lauren Morello and Katherine Ellen Foley]
- According to Merck's trial data, eight trial participants who received placebo treatment died of Covid-19 during the trial period; none of the participants who received molnupiravir did. The phase 3 trial was conducted on 775 adults with underlying conditions that put them at higher risk for severe illness, hospitalization, or death from Covid-19. [Merck]
- "The data are impressive," Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said at a press conference on Friday, although he declined to give a time frame for FDA approval of the drug. [The Hill / Peter Sullivan]
- Merck plans to request emergency use authorization in the US in the next two weeks. Competitors Pfizer and Roche are also working on a pill treatment for Covid-19, with results from their clinical trials anticipated at the end of the year. [Reuters / Deena Beasley and Carl O'Donnell]
- Merck says it will produce enough pills for 10 million treatments and has already licensed the treatment to five Indian drug companies to manufacture a generic version. The US has already purchased 1.7 million treatment courses for $1.2 billion. [Washington Post / Carolyn Y. Johnson]
- While the twice-daily treatment would be easy to manufacture, prescribe, and administer, it's still not as effective as the vaccine at preventing severe illness or death, and people don't always realize they have Covid within five days of infection. [Financial Times / Jamie Smyth]
UN officials are "persona non grata" in Ethiopia - On Thursday, the Ethiopian government expelled seven United Nations officials, accusing them of "meddling in the internal affairs of the country," two days after UN aid chief Martin Griffiths warned of famine in the contested Tigray region. [NYT / Declan Walsh and Rick Gladstone]
- The Tigray region has been under what the UN has said is essentially a blockade by the Ethiopian government, limiting the transportation of food, fuel, and medicine to the region, which is home to 6 million people. The first starvation deaths in the region were reported last week, and approximately 400,000 are facing famine conditions. [AP / Cara Anna]
- The conflict in the Tigray region began last November, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent forces into the region to quell dissent from the Tigray ethnic group, which has devolved into an 11-month conflict and led to atrocities by various factions. The United States threatened sanctions against Abiy and his regime in mid-September should humanitarian conditions not improve. [Brookings / Vanda Felbab-Brown]
- UN chief António Guterres told Abiy on Friday that the body didn't accept the expulsion of the officers; the US warned that it would take action against Ethiopia should the government continue to block humanitarian efforts. [Reuters / Michelle Nichols]
- Abiy's government had previously booted out aid groups Doctors Without Borders and the Norwegian Refugee Committee, after accusing aid workers of spreading "misinformation" about the conflict. [Al Jazeera]
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