Government plans to give micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) access to anti-viral drug Molnupiravir to assist in the recovery of frontline workers infected with the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
In a statement, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said he has started talks with suppliers of Molnupiravir, an oral medicine said to reduce severe symptoms of COVID-19.
This way, Concepcion said, workers can remain be back to work at the soonest possible time.
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the Emergency Use Authorization.
Concepcion said use of the anti-viral drug should be closely supervised and monitored by doctors of the private sector.
Based on initial talks with several suppliers, Concepcion said the price of Molnupiravir ranges between P1,991 and P5,200 per bottle, depending on the volume of orders and supplier.
“If the workers recover (fast), (companies)can continue doing business and help our economy,” Concepcion said.
“There is a possibility that you can get patients go back to work because they’re not transmissible because they’re taking the drug and at the same time, the absence of symptoms which usually starts on the second and third day of the drug and total absence of symptoms five to seven days, that will make the patient really better and reduce the risk of hospitalization and also reduce the risk of transmissibility,” he explained.
Quoting vaccine expert panel member and infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante, Concepcion said Molnupiravir is given to patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 twice a day for five days.
Solante said this regime reduces hospitalization and the risk dying by 30 percent and helps reduce transmissibility of COVID-19 as the viral load can be cut by as much as 80 percent on the fifth day.
Concepcion said Molnupiravir could suffice for now until the arrival of Paxlovid, an oral formulation that is a combination of two drugs that is given in one formulation. – Irma Isip
