Japan approves Merck Covid pill for use beginning next week

TOKYO: Japan has approved the Covid-19 pill developed by United States pharmaceutical company Merck & Co. for use beginning next week, the Japanese health minister said Friday.

Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto told reporters that a ministry drug panel authorised Merck's molnupiravir under a fast-track process and the drug will be shipped to hospitals and pharmacies beginning next week.

It's one of two medications for treating Covid-19 that Japan has secured. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the country is procuring 1.6 million doses from Merck.

Japan has also arranged for a shipment of 2 million doses of a COVID-19 pill made by Pfizer that hasn't yet received approval for use in the country.

Until recently, Japan largely kept out coronavirus infections involving the new omicron variant by enforcing stringent border controls. The first known locally transmitted cases were reported in Osaka on Wednesday.