News that an experimental antiviral drug from Merck appears to halve the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid-19 has bolstered hopes of finding a simple at-home treatment for the virus.

The drug, molnupiravir, is given as a pill. It performed well enough in a late-stage clinical trial of adults at high risk of severe Covid-19 that the independent review board overseeing the study recommended that it be ended early. Now Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics will seek FDA authorization for the drug “as soon as possible,” they said Friday.

Merck on Friday said it will seek emergency approval of an antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 after it significantly cut the risk of bad outcomes in clinical trials.

The New Jersey-based drugmaker said the drug, molnupiravir, cut the risk of hospitalization or death in half in high-risk patients with mild to moderate illness.

If authorized for use, it would be a groundbreaking treatment. Pills are easy to take and can reach a wider audience than monoclonal antibodies, an effective treatment in high demand.

Drugmaker Merck said Friday that its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus, potentially a leap forward in the global fight against the pandemic.

The company said it will soon ask health officials in the U.S. and around the world to authorize the pill’s use. A decision from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could come within weeks after that, and the drug, if OK’d, could be distributed quickly soon afterward.