The U.K. approves Merck’s molnupiravir, making it the first pill to be endorsed for treating Covid.

@ NYTimes.com, Covid news live, today

Britain on Thursday became the first country to authorize the use of an antiviral pill for Covid-19, an easy-to-use treatment that could help tame the pandemic.

The drug, known as molnupiravir and sold by the pharmaceutical company Merck, was shown in a key clinical trial to reduce by half the risk of hospitalization and death in high-risk Covid patients who were treated early in their infections. Dispensed from a pharmacy and taken at home, the drug is expected to reach many more people than treatments like monoclonal antibodies, which are typically administered intravenously at a hospital or clinic.

Britain, which has already ordered enough supplies of the pill for 480,000 people, is one of growing list of wealthy countries that have raced to lock up supplies of the drug.

Merck said last week it has reached deals to sell the pills to the governments of the United States, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, Serbia and Singapore.

The drug is expected to become available in the United States as soon as December, after a panel of experts meets at the end of this month to make a recommendation to the Food and Drug Administration about whether it should be authorized for high-risk Covid patients. The United States has ordered enough supply of the drug for 1.7 million patients, at a cost of about $700 per person.

Britain’s regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, recommended giving the drug to people as soon as possible after a positive coronavirus test and within five days of the onset of symptoms. The full course of treatment is 40 pills over five days.

The regulator authorized the drug for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people who have at least one trait — such as being over 60 years old or having obesity — that would put them at high risk for becoming severely ill from the virus.[....]