Today, Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced that molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral medicine, has significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death due to COVID-19. Merck plans to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) an application for emergency use authorization as soon as possible, based on findings from phase III clinical trials of the drug.

Namandjé Bumpus, Ph.D., professor and director of the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, is available for interviews about the new oral medication, her perspective on the FDA approval process and on measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Namandjé Bumpus bio:
Namandjé Bumpus’ research seeks to mechanistically define the role of drug metabolism in antiviral drug outcomes. Bumpus received a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Michigan — Ann Arbor and completed a fellowship at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. A member of the council of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, Bumpus is widely recognized as a leader in pharmacological research, and has written on building a framework for better drug development. She is known for her research on HIV drugs, particularly her work on genetics’ impact on the way these drugs are processed in the body.

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• Covid-19 Story Tip: What’s an Emergency Use Authorization? Johns Hopkins Medicine Expert Explains in Video.