Sri Lankan government has endorsed the use of Molnupiravir, the first oral antiviral pill to treat patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, the country's health minister said Tuesday.

Quoted in local media reports, State Minister of Production, Supply and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals Channa Jayasumana said that the pill was approved by Sri Lanka's COVID-19 Technical Committee and a panel of medical experts.

The pill reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by 50 percent, according to the minister. It has been developed by the drug companies Merck, Sharp and Dohme (MSD) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

Jayasumana said the committee approved the use of this pill in the treatment of COVID-19 patients upon his letter of request and it would be registered in Sri Lanka in the future and prescribed for patients infected with the coronavirus.

Sri Lanka has to date recorded 552,274 COVID-19 patients since March last year and recorded 14,016 deaths, according to the statistics by the health ministry, UNI news agency said.