CAIRO - 26 January 2022: Egypt officially approved Monday the COVID-19 antiviral oral pill Molnupiravir, becoming the first country in MENA, and the fourth worldwide to provide the drug, according to Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and acting minister of health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar
This comes in accordance with relevant directives from the political leadership, he said.
In this regard, the minister expressed thanks to the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) for the efforts it has made to accelerate licensing five domestic companies to manufacture Molnupiravir after passing accurate lab tests that approved the drug for emergency use.
Meanwhile, EDA President Tamer Essam said Molnupiravir has been authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for emergency use for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19.
It reduces the risk of being hospitalized by 50 percent, he added.
Local companies have so far produced 25,000 packs of the drug, he said, noting that the move comes in line with the Egyptian State’s efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-19
Parts of the report were taken from MENA agency
Wed, Jan. 26, 2022
