“Merck & Co Inc, the American multinational pharmaceutical company announced on Tuesday that its COVID-19 tablet was not strongly capable of reducing the effects of coronavirus infections in people who are living with someone infected with the virus.”

Merck & Co Inc, the American multinational pharmaceutical company announced on Tuesday that its COVID-19 tablet was not strongly capable of reducing the effects of coronavirus infections in people who are living with someone infected with the virus.

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The results of the effectiveness of the medicine on the health of household members were similar to its biggest competitor Pfizer Inc, whose COVID-19 medicine, Paxlovid, also could prevent infections among household contacts.

The two respective drugs from Merck and Pfizer for viral infection are medically approved to treat individuals at risk of severe disease. The enthusiasm for the pill of Merck has gone down since it was only 30% effective compared to Paxlovid of Pfizer.

The late-stage health trial of Merck had more than 1,500 participants, who were household contacts who came in the exposure to an individual with at least one symptom and was recently found COVID-19 positive. Lagevrio pill of Merck, also known as molnupiravir, was given every 12 hours for five days and was compared with a placebo group. 

Merck said, individuals who participated and were treated with the tablet were 23.6% less likely to be prone to COVID symptoms than those who had a placebo through day 14, not meeting the major objective of the trial.

In December 2021, Merck's Lagevrio and Pfizer's Paxlovid pills were approved for emergency use for patients who were mild-to-moderate COVID-positive for the virus and were at risk of progressing to severe COVID.

Previously in February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said there is no need for a positive test of Pfizer and Merck’s treatments in a bid to boost access to the medicines.