France is the first country to publicly say it has cancelled an order for the Merck treatment after the company released data in late November suggesting its drug was markedly less effective than previously thought, reducing hospitalisations and deaths in its clinical trial of high-risk people by about 30%.Merck did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
France had placed an early order for 50 000 doses of the drug molnupiravir developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.The cancellation would not incur a cost, Veran said. Italian drug regulator Aifa's head Nicola Magrini told a Senate committee on December 9 the two treatments could be available in Italy from the end of January.
"There must and will be an evaluation, independently of the assessments of regulatory bodies," Walter Ricciardi, top adviser of health minister Roberto Speranza, told Reuters.