European committee: Regulators should deny Merck’s Lagevrio

By TOM MURPHY
AP Health Writer

A European medical committee recommends rejection of Merck’s COVID-19 treatment, Lagevrio, casting fresh doubt on a pill that also stirs concern among U.S. regulators. A European Medicines Agency committee says marketing authorization for the antiviral pill for use in the European Union should be refused. A statement from the agency says a committee that has been reviewing Merck’s application for more than a year concluded that the drug’s clinical benefit could not be demonstrated. Merck said Friday that it plans to appeal the recommendation, which came from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.