By Giulia Petroni

The European Medicines Agency on Friday advised that Merck & Co's and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics' experimental Covid-19 capsules can be used for the treatment of adults not requiring oxygen support and at increased risk of severe illness.

The European Union's drug regulator said the medicine, which is known as Lagevrio, should be administered within five days of first symptoms and taken twice a day for five days.

Lagevrio is not currently authorized for use in the EU.

"EMA issued this advice to support national authorities who may decide on possible early use of the medicine prior to marketing authorization, for example in emergency-use settings, in light of rising rates of infection and deaths due to Covid-19 across the EU," it said.

The EMA also said it is currently reviewing data on the use of Pfizer's Covid-19 pill Paxlovid in order to provide recommendations.

The data comes from a study that analyzes the oral treatment in non-hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 infections who were at high risk of progressing to severe disease.

According to the regulator, preliminary results shows that Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization or death compared with placebo when treatment was given within three or five days of first symptoms.

Write to Giulia Petroni at giulia.petroni@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 19, 2021 11:31 ET (16:31 GMT)

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