The Ministry of Health warned that it is evaluating both the cost and effectiveness of the Molnupiravir pill, the drug recently authorized by the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (Invima), for the treatment of patients with positive Covid-19. They indicate that there are several factors to consider before purchasing the drug.
In this sense, the director of Medicines of the Ministry of Health, Leonardo Arregocés, pointed out that he is working with the pharmaceutical company Merckin the feasibility of including the drug within the covid-19 treatments implemented by the health system.
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“We don’t know how effective the drug is, as real-life performance is often lower than in controlled studies. For example, three doses of the vaccine against Covid-19 have an effectiveness of preventing severe disease above 80% or 85%, which is almost 3 times more than what this drug achieves. This drug does not replace vaccination,” explained Arregocés.
From the Ministry of Health they also point out that “we don’t know how the drug behaves in people who are already vaccinated. We do not know if this protection of only 30% against hospitalization or death is maintained or, on the contrary, the effect is further reduced with vaccination.”
For this reason, Invima approved the use only for people who have not been vaccinated, who have not had covid-19 in the past and who have at least one risk factor for severe disease.
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Another issue that is being evaluated is the cost of the medication, which in Colombia would be greater than one million two hundred thousand pesos. “The price at which the company would sell the medicine to the health system is the same price that they sell it to other middle and high income countries. It is necessary to evaluate which is the best way in which to dispose of this medicine brings benefit to the users of the system, to the people”, he stated.
There is also the factor of resistance. “We are concerned that these antivirals, like other drugs in their class, have the risk of generating drug resistance in the virus and leading to selection of resistant strains of the virus. Although the mechanism by which the drug works and the short treatment time suggest that the risk of resistance is lowit is a risk that must be considered because it can affect the rest of the population,” said Arregocés.
