Merck applied for US Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorization for its experimental antiviral Covid-19 treatment, molnupiravir, CNN reports.

If authorization is granted, the drug  would be the first oral antiviral treatment to fight Covid-19. It comes in capsule form.

The extraordinary impact of this pandemic demands that we move with unprecedented urgency, and that is what our teams have done by submitting this application for molnupiravir to the FDA within 10 days of receiving the data," Merck CEO and President Robert Davis said in the statement.

Merck has been producing molnupiravir at risk and expects to produce 10 million courses of treatment by the end of 2021, with more courses expected to be produced in 2022, the company announced.

Merck said it is asking for authorization for the capsules to treat infected adults who are at risk of progressing to severe Covid-19 disease or hospitalization. Its submission is based on a study that was stopped at the interi ...