NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has not added Merck’s COVID-19 pill in its national treatment protocol for the disease due to some “major safety concerns”, a senior health official told a media briefing on Wednesday.
“We have to remember that this drug has major safety concerns … so it is not included in the national task-force treatment,” Balram Bhargava, head of the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, said.
Indian drugmaker Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd plans to launch its generic version of the Merck drug, called molnupiravir, from early next week.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
