A new drug appears to eliminate COVID-19 virus in just 3 days. 

Clinical trials by Merck, the manufacturer of antiviral pill molnupiravir, suggest the drug is effective at helping patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 to eliminate the virus from their system - if they start the therapy within five days of symptoms starting. 

Participants taking molnupiravir in recent tests eliminated actively infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus by day 3 of starting therapy, while many participants who received a placebo took up to 5 days and in some cases longer to achieve this. 

Molnupiravir is an oral antiviral prodrug with broad activity against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern. 

The drug has been granted an emergency use authorisation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is also authorised for use in the UK, Australia, and Japan and 12 other jurisdictions.

Molnupiravir is now in the process being submitted to global regulatory authorities for emergency use authorisation or approval in other countries and jurisdictions, such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and is being studied in a Phase 3 trial to evaluate it in a prophylaxis setting.