The Philippines will receive 300,000 courses of Merck & Co’s Covid-19 antiviral drug next month, licenced importers and distributors say, as Asian nations race to get early access to the experimental pill amid large demand, reports Reuters.

“Molnupiravir can now be accessed by our countrymen upon being prescribed for such use by their respective physicians,” Monaliza Salian, president of MedEthix, a Philippine healthcare products importer, told a news conference.

The shipment will be the first batch of the drug to arrive in the Philippines.