India boosts arsenal with Merck Pill, 2 more vaccines

Asia’s third-largest economy has already said it would allow Covid-19 booster shots for some of its population as some states reported a surge in micron cases.

The emergency clearance comes at a time when measures are being taken to accelerate the supply of oxygen and strengthen the country’s health infrastructure.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that Molnupiravir will be manufactured by 13 companies in India for restricted use to treat adult patients of COVID-19 in emergency situations.

Merck’s anti-viral pill molanupiravir was authorized by the US last week for certain high-risk adult patients and has been shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by about 30% in a clinical trial.

Earlier this year, Aurobindo Pharma, Cipla, Sun Pharmaceuticals and a few others signed non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements with Merck to manufacture and supply Molnupiravir in India.

Two other Kovid-19 vaccines, Serum Institute of India’s version of the shot from Novavax Inc., Kovovax and domestic drugmaker Biologicals E’s Corbevax, were also approved for emergency use, Mandaviya said on Twitter.

Medical experts said India needed to double down on its vaccine campaign, and some states imposed night curfews and other restrictions on New Year’s festivities to prevent a spike in infections and a repeat of the summer of 2021 when infections are devastating. The second wave killed thousands.

The locally produced version of AstraZeneca COVID-19, shot by Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech’s inactivated vaccine Covaxin, has dominated the country’s vaccination campaign so far.

India has delivered 1.43 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, and 62% of its eligible population has received both doses. The country plans to vaccinate people aged 15-18 from January 3.

Sun Pharma, Cipla, Hetero and Torrent on Tuesday announced plans to launch their versions of Molnupiravir soon.