The World Health Organisation is awaiting full clinical data on the antiviral pill made by Merck & Co Inc to treat mild-to-moderate Covid-19 patients, a WHO spokesperson has said, a day after the company said it had applied for US emergency use authorisation.

WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier, according to Reuters, told a UN briefing in Geneva: “Indeed, this is an interesting development. We would have to see the full data about it. If it holds true, then it is another weapon in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The treatment, molnupiravir, cut the rate of hospitalisation and death by 50 per cent in a trial of mild-to-moderately ill patients who had at least one risk factor for the disease, according to data released this month.