Norway will probably soon be able to treat patients with new, promising corona medicine, the newspaper VG writes.
“We need all the tools we can get in our toolbox now, even though vaccines are still the only thing that can stop this pandemic,” Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, told VG.
He says the medicine is a fairly simple cure; four tablets are taken twice a day for five days.
On Sunday, the National Institute of Public Health (FHI) published a risk assessment of the omicron variant. The FHI stated that they recommend that new drugs against COVID-19 be purchased.
In an email to VG, FHI’s Preben Aavitsland clarified that the medicines in question are the drugs Paxlovid from Pfizer and Lagevrio from Merck.
Omicron effect
“If the elderly become infected, they can use these drugs to reduce their risk of serious illness. These tools will most likely also work on the omicron variant,” he said.
In the previous risk assessment dated November 17, the FHI wrote that press releases from Pfizer and Merck indicate that the drugs can reduce the risk of hospitalization by up to 90% in unvaccinated at-risk patients who start treatment early in the course of the disease.
The European Medicines Agency will probably approve the medicines. They will likely be available in Norway within a few months.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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