MANILA: The Philippines will receive 300,000 courses of Merck & Co’s COVID-19 antiviral drug next month, licensed importers and distributors said on Wednesday, as Asian nations race to get early access to the experimental pill amid large demand.
Singapore and Malaysia have signed deals to buy the drug, Molnupiravir, while Indonesia is finalizing a purchase agreement, among a slew of orders after data from interim clinical trials showed the pills could halve the likelihood of hospitalization or death for patients at risk of severe COVID-19.
“Molnupiravir can now be accessed by our countrymen upon being prescribed for such use by their respective physicians,” Monaliza Salian, president of MedEthix, a Philippine health care products importer, told a news conference.
MedEthix will import 300,000 courses of Molnupiravir for COVID-19 patients in four hospitals, she added. The shipment will be the first batch of the drug to arrive in the Philippines.
Each pill is estimated to cost 100 to 150 pesos ($1.97 to $2.96), said Meneleo Hernandez, president of pharmaceutical firm JackPharma, which will distribute the drug locally.
The Philippines has approved the “compassionate use” of Molnupiravir for 31 hospitals, Food and Drug Administration Chief Rolando Enrique Domingo said on Wednesday.
Molnupiravir would be the world’s first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19 if it gets regulatory approval.
The Philippines’ health ministry on Wednesday reported 3,218 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day tally in more than five months. It has so far fully inoculated roughly 26 million of its 110 million population.
With nearly 2.77 million cases and more than 42,300 deaths, the Philippines has the second highest number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia.
Philippines to receive 300,000 courses of Merck’s COVID-19 pill
https://arab.news/c8gx5
Philippines to receive 300,000 courses of Merck’s COVID-19 pill
- Asian nations race to get early access to the experimental pill amid large demand
- Each pill is estimated to cost between $1.97 and $2.96
Duterte killed thousands, ICC prosecutors say
- His defense team countered that Duterte had murdered no one and that the prosecution’s argument was based on “hearsay” and “conjecture“
- “He’s proud of his killings. He wants to be remembered for them,” said Julian Nicholls, summing up for the prosecution
THE HAGUE: Rodrigo Duterte killed thousands during his anti-drug campaign, an International Criminal Court prosecutor alleged Friday, as the crimes against humanity hearing against the former Philippines president wrapped up.
His defense team countered that Duterte had murdered no one and that the prosecution’s argument was based on “hearsay” and “conjecture,” falling far short of the bar needed to confirm the charges against him.
“He’s proud of his killings. He wants to be remembered for them,” said Julian Nicholls, summing up for the prosecution.
“Decades of murdering his own people, murdering the children of the Philippines, and he claims that he did it all for his country. He doesn’t deny it.
“He ran a death squad in Davao (city) that he created. He ran it for over 20 years before he became president. His promise was to kill thousands and he did.”
Throughout the week, a panel of three judges has heard from the prosecution, defense, and victims’ representatives as they weigh whether to proceed to a full trial.
Duterte has not been in the courtroom. The defense says he is too ill to attend. Victims say he does not want to face the loved ones of those he killed.
He faces three counts of crimes against humanity over his so-called “war on drugs” when he was mayor of Davao City and then as president of the Philippines.
The prosecution has put forward 76 cases of alleged murder, which they say is an “emblematic fraction” of those killed, which rights groups say number thousands.
Duterte’s defense lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, summing up his case, said that if his client could be faulted for anything, it was his “inappropriate choice of language.”
“But he murdered nobody,” Kaufman told the court.
He urged the judges not to confirm the charges and to free Duterte to “live out the rest of his days in peace” in the Philippines.
He said that during a visit to explain proceedings to his client, he “lost the desire to follow me within a minute.”
However, he cited the former leader as asking how the prosecutors could prove that he murdered anyone, again denying the charges against him.
Gilbert Andres, a lawyer representing victims, summed up by saying that his clients experienced defense rebuttals “like their murdered loved-ones are being murdered again.”
He called on the court to confirm the charges so that the victims can be “reintegrated into their communities.”
Following the hearing, judges will have up to 60 days to issue a written verdict.
They can confirm all of the charges and proceed to trial, throw out some of the charges, or reject the case outright, in which case Duterte would walk free.
