Merck's COVID drug Molnupiravir clears customs

The first batch of Molnupiravir, a COVID-19 drug developed by US pharmaceutical company Merck, finished customs clearance at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone on Friday and entered the domestic market.

Weighing 15.5 tons, the batch will be sold by Chinese drug maker Sinopharm Group.

According to Dai Qian, deputy director of Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone customs, they provided the enterprise with a series safe and convenient measures such as pre-declaration to shorten the time of customs clearance.

The National Medical Products Administration granted conditional market approval for the import of Molnupiravir on Dec 29, according to a release from the administration published on Dec 30.

The drug can be used by adult COVID-19 patients who have mild to moderate symptoms and have high risk to develop into severe case due to underlying conditions such as old age, obesity, chronic kidney disease or diabetes, the release said.

More batches of Molnupiravir will be imported to guarantee the supplies in response to the market demand after the first batch has successfully passed the import process, according to Sinopharm Group.