Merck & Co Inc has signed nine deals to sell more than 3 million courses of its experimental Covid-19 molnupiravir pill to governments around the world as nations scramble to tame the pandemic.
Merck’s Covid-19 treatment, however, isn’t the only one at stake.
On Friday, US firm Pfiser Inc prematurely halted a trial of its antiviral drug after it was shown to reduce the risk of severe Covid-19 by 89%, surpassing the results seen with Merck’s product.
Pfiser said it plans to submit the results of the tentative trial for its pill to the US Food and Drug Administration before the US Thanksgiving holiday on November 25.
The United States has secured “millions of pill dosesâ€
; of Pfiser’s Covid-19 treatment pill, President Joe Biden said Friday.
Although Merck’s approval of the drug in the United States is still pending, Britain has become the first country in the world to approve the pill.
The UK has already secured 480,000 Merck drug courses and has procured 250,000 Pfiser courses.
After securing 300,000 doses of Merck’s pill, Australia has purchased 500,000 treatment courses of Pfiser’s oral antiviral drug Covid-19, the Australian government said in an October17 statement.
In Indonesia, the process for registering Merck’s treatment is underway, the country’s food and pharmaceutical agency (BPOM) head said Monday, with a view to a possible purchase of up to 1 million doses next month.
Talks are also underway for the European Union, which is negotiating with both drug manufacturers about the possible sale of their investigational drugs against Covid-19, an EU official said on Monday.
Thailand has joined Pfiser’s negotiating table over its pill, a medical adviser said.
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