Merck Agrees to Supply Covid-19 Treatment Pills to Singapore
October 06 2021 - 02:16AM
Dow Jones News
By Yifan Wang
Merck & Co. has signed an agreement with the Singapore
government to supply the city-state with Covid-19 treatment pills,
pending regulatory approvals.
The U.S. drug maker will provide Singapore with access to its
experimental drug, called molnupiravir, once certain regulatory
milestones are achieved, it said Wednesday.
The drug, developed by Merck and its partner Ridgeback
Biotherapeutics LP, has shown success in a late-stage clinical
study.
The companies on Friday said the pill cut the risk of
hospitalization or death in study subjects with mild to moderate
Covid-19 by about 50%, sending Merck shares surging 8.4% on the
news.
The results put molnupiravir on track for potential regulatory
authorization by the end of the year and would make it the first
oral antiviral for Covid-19.
Merck Chief Executive Rob Davis has said that the company plans
to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to authorize the
drug's use in the coming weeks.
Merck has entered into supply and purchase agreements for
molnupiravir with other governments world-wide, pending regulatory
authorization, and is in discussions with other governments, it
said.
Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 06, 2021 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)
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