VOA慢速英语2021 美国默沙东公司称其实验性药物可治疗新冠（在线收听）

American drug-maker Merck said Friday that its experimental pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half among people infected with COVID-19 in a drug trial.

美国制药商默沙东公司周五表示，其实验性药物在一项临床试验中将新冠肺炎感染者的住院和死亡人数减少了一半。（51VOA注：美国默克曾是德国默克的分公司，分家之后只能在北美使用默克品牌，美国默克和沙东药厂合并后称为默沙东公司。）

The drug-maker said it will soon ask health officials in the United States and around the world to approve the pill for the treatment of coronavirus.

这家制药商表示，它很快会要求美国和世界各地卫生官员批准这种用于治疗新冠病毒的药物。

If cleared, the drug, called molnupiravir, would be the first pill approved for the treatment of COVID-19. All other approved treatments must be injected or given through IV by healthcare workers. A pill can be taken at home and is easier to send around the world.

如果获得批准，莫奈拉韦将成为第一种获批用于治疗新冠肺炎的药物。其它所有获批疗法必须由医护人员打针或是输液。药物可以在家中服用，并且很容易被送到世界各地。

Dr. William Schaffner is an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University who was not involved in the research. He said such a pill would provide treatment to "many more people, much more quickly and, we trust, much less expensively." And Dr. Anthony Fauci has also said a pill that can be taken at home as soon as people feel sick will help control the virus.

威廉·沙夫纳博士是范德比尔特大学的传染病专家，他没有参与这项研究。他说，这类药物将为更多人更快地提供治疗，而且我们相信成本也会更低。安东尼·福奇博士也表示，一种可以让人们自感不适时立即在家服用的药物将有助于控制病毒。

Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics studied 775 people with mild to moderate symptoms of COVID-19 in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Africa. The patients also had existing health problems that increased their risk for severe disease.

默沙东公司及其合作伙伴Ridgeback Biotherapeutics公司对美国、欧洲、拉丁美洲和非洲的775名新冠肺炎中轻度感染者进行了研究。这些患者还存在其它健康问题，这增加了他们感染重症的风险。

Patients who received the experimental pill within five days of COVID-19 symptoms had about half the rate of hospitalization and death as those who received a placebo. A placebo is a pill that has an inactive substance. Merck said only about seven percent of the patients who received the experimental pill went to the hospital or died after 30 days compared to 14 percent who received a placebo.

在出现新冠肺炎症状5天内服用这种实验性药物的患者的住院率和死亡率约为服用安慰剂患者的一半。安慰剂是一种含有非活性物质的药物。默沙东公司表示，服用实验性药物的患者中只有7%的人在30天后住院或死亡，而在服用安慰剂的患者中该比例为14%。

Patients in the Merck study were not vaccinated for COVID-19. Merck said there were some side effects among both groups but did not describe them. The drug-maker said its pill works by preventing the virus from easily reproducing itself. But earlier studies showed the drug did not help people who were already very sick.

默沙东公司这项研究中涉及的患者都未接种新冠疫苗。默沙东公司表示，两组患者当中都出现了一些副作用，但是并未具体描述。这家制药商表示，其药物的作用是防止病毒轻易地自我复制。但早期研究表明，这种药物对重症患者没有帮助。

A group of independent experts following the trial advised Merck to stop it early because the pill seemed to be working so well. Merck said it will soon send the trial results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review.

一组跟踪此次临床试验的独立专家建议默沙东公司提前结束试验，因为这种药物貌似很有效。默沙东公司表示，它将很快将试验结果发给美国食品和药物管理局进行审查。

Dr. Dean Li is the vice president of Merck Research Laboratories. He said: "It exceeded what I thought the drug might be able to do in this clinical trial." Li noted that a 50 percent reduction in hospitalization or death is "a substantial clinical impact."

迪恩·李博士是默沙东研究实验室的副总裁。他说：“该药物在这次临床试验中发挥的作用了超出了我的预想。”李博士指出住院或死亡减少50%是重大的临床影响。

Merck said it can produce 10 million treatments by the end of the year. The U.S. already plans to buy nearly 2 million treatments if it is approved by the FDA.

默沙东公司表示，到今年年底该公司可以生产出1000万疗程的药物。如果该药物获得美国食品和药物管理局批准，美国计划将购买近200万疗程。

Pfizer and Roche, two other drug companies, are working on similar products and may have results from their drug trials soon.

辉瑞和罗氏这两家制药公司也在开发类似产品，并且可能很快会得出临床试验结果。