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An experimental drug for severe Covid cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by about half, interim clinical trial results suggest.

The tablet - molnupiravir - was given twice a day to patients recently diagnosed with the disease, BBC News reported.

US drug-maker Merck said its results were so positive that outside monitors had asked to stop the trial early.

It said it would apply for emergency use authorisation for the drug in the US in the next two weeks.

Dr Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, said the results were "very good news", but urged caution until the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had reviewed the data.

If authorised by regulators, molnupiravir would be the first oral antiviral medication for Covid-19.

The pill, which was originally developed to treat influenza, is designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus, preventing it from spreading in the body.

Unlike most Covid vaccines, which target the spike protein on the outside of the virus, the treatment works by targeting an enzyme the virus uses to make copies of itself.

Merck, known by the name MSD in the UK, said that should make it equally effective against new variants of the virus as it evolves in the future.