Gov't to introduce oral COVID-19 medicine Lagevrio for 100,000 patients this week

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The government will introduce the oral COVID-19 medicine Lagevrio for 100,000 patients this week while seeking an early procurement of additional doses, Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol said Monday.

The planned introduction of the medicine, also known as Molnupiravir, by American multinational pharmaceutical company MSD comes amid rising demand for such oral medicine, the minister said during a pandemic response meeting.

Over the weekend, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has said it is carefully considering the authorization of Molnupiravir for high-risk patients with mild to moderate symptoms who cannot take Paxlovid or Remdesivir for coronavirus treatment.

"On top of the introduction of Paxlovid for 95,000 patients planned for April, the government is seeking an early procurement of additional oral COVID-19 medicine," Jeon noted.

The minister said the country's daily infection cases have been on the downturn for four straight days after hitting an all-time high last week, adding that the hospital bed occupancy rate for seriously ill COVID-19 patients was at 69 percent, while the fatality rate has remained at the 0.1 percent level for five straight weeks.

"The number of patients in critical condition and deaths are on the rise, but the accumulated fatality rate remains at 0.15 percent, less than one quarter the rates seen in the U.S., Britain and France where the infection peaks have already occurred," he said. (Yonhap)