Merck’s Molnupiravir designated bogus by the UK (Merck used to make Ivermectin – just think if it had produced Ivermectin for humanity for a buck instead of making a dud for 700 bucks)

A billion here, a billion there – pretty soon you approach 1% of annual big pharma profits –– politicians make lousy medics and even worse drug dealers

(Re-ordered) Snippets from here:

Almost £1bn spent on anti-Covid drug that doesn’t work (msn.com)

“The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), the UK drugs watchdog, recently said molnupiravir should not be routinely used. In November, the drug was added to its draft “not recommended” list for treatment of Covid.”..

” the drug was not recommended followed early findings from the Oxford University-led Panoramic trial of more than 25,000 people.”

“..the drug makes no difference to hospitalisation or death rates.”

Note that “no difference in hospitalizations.." comment compared to the US clinical trial results further down.

“The UK was the first country in the world to licence molnupiravir”..” the Government had bought 2.23 million courses of the “game-changing” antiviral”..” just 20,195 courses of the drug have been prescribed between December 2021 and the end of last week.”..” The drug is far more costly than alternatives, at around £450 per course.”

450 pounds is around 540 dollars - keep that in mind - The Telegraph might have got its numbers wrong by the odd 30% or so.

In case you are wondering, from here (the posted link is “Forbidden”:

Site Search | Homeland Security (dhs.gov)

“DHS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Master Question List for ...

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/.../22_1022_st_mql_sars_cov-2.pdf

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat

22 Oct 2022 ... Clinical trials for molnupiravir have shown a 30% reduction in hospitalization and death,527-528 an increase in viral clearance,.

LabeledAll DHS SitesDHS.gov”

Apparently clinical trail methos and results are different in the UK, compared to the US.

And here:

Merck and Ridgeback Announce That 3.1 Million Courses of Molnupiravir, an Investigational Oral Antiviral COVID-19 Medicine, Have Been Supplied to the U.S. Government for Use in the United States - Merck.com

 February 8, 2022 6:45 am ET

“In 2021, Merck entered a procurement agreement with the U.S. government under which the company agreed to supply approximately 3.1 million courses of molnupiravir to the U.S. government upon Emergency Use Authorization or approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

Check this out:

“To date, Merck has shipped molnupiravir to more than 25 countries; in countries where it is approved or authorized, patients have begun to receive the medicine.”

No cost mentioned there, but in the below link from June 9, 2021, 1.7 million doses were billed at 1.2  billion dollars = 706 dollars per dose (588 pounds v 450 pounds for a course in the UK, cited by The Telegraph) implying the 3.1 million courses cost around 2.2 billion dollars.

Merck Announces Supply Agreement with U.S. Government for Molnupiravir, an Investigational Oral Antiviral Candidate for Treatment of Mild to Moderate COVID-19 - Merck.com

Maybe the FDA can open the same phone lines it used to collude with the UK in the past and withdraw EUA

Molnupiravir HCP FS 02012023 (fda.gov)

Almost a year ago, 1.5 million courses of Molnupiravir had been administered., though precious little information is available since..

Eagerly awaited COVID lifesavers molnupiravir, Paxlovid now wait for patients | CIDRAP (umn.edu)

“According to the US Department of Health and Human Services' Public Health Emergency website, the government has shipped 364,850 courses of Paxlovid and 1,500,360 courses of molnupiravir as of this week.”

Onwards!

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