Deals have been agreed for 730,000 doses of new antiviral drugs to help the most vulnerable to Covid.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed the news at a Downing Street press conference as rising UK case rates prompted calls for the Government to bring in new restrictions.
He urged people to get a Covid booster jab but said thousands of courses of two new antiviral drugs would be ready for use this winter, if approved by the UK medicines regulator.
The treatments, from pharmaceutical companies Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD), and Pfizer, will be targeted at the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.
Health chiefs confirmed on Wednesday there were 49,139 new cases (up 17% on the previous week), 179 more deaths (up 21%) and 869 new hospitalisations (up 11%).
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “I am delighted to confirm we may soon have a new defence in our arsenal with two new antiviral drugs that we have secured.
“Our work is far from done though – and we’ll continue our tireless work to secure more innovative treatments so we can protect as many people as possible from the virus, its variants and future diseases.”
Antivirals are used to either treat people infected with a virus or to protect exposed individuals from becoming infected.
The data currently available for the new antivirals is for their use as treatment for people who have Covid-19, while studies on using them in a preventive way have only just begun.
The Department of Health and Social Care said 480,000 courses of Molnupiravir, made by MSD, have been secured, as well as 250,000 courses of Pfizer’s PF-07321332/ritonavir.
Molnupiravir has been shown in clinical trials to reduce the risk of hospital admission or death for at-risk adults with mild to moderate Covid-19 by 50%, the department said.
Pfizer’s antiviral is at the beginning of its phase three trials.
Both are awaiting approval by the the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
It is understood that, if approved, Molnupiravir could be available by the middle of November, and Pfizer’s treatment by the middle of January 2022.
