Merck got merked 5.4% in the market yesterday after a new study showed the company’s COVID-19 antiviral pill is much less effective than originally thought. However, an FDA advisory panel voted 13-10 in favor of supporting the pill anyway, endorsing Merck’s drug as a therapeutic for adults at high risk for severe COVID infections.
Initially, Merck published results claiming its COVID pill (known as molnupiravir) reduced risk of hospitalization or death by 30% among adults with severe infection. The company’s most recent study showed the pill’s effectiveness to be significantly lower. The Biden administration has already purchased enough molnupiravir for 3.1 million patients pending FDA approval, and as Omicron fears spread throughout the globe, it looks like the FDA wants all hands on deck. 🤷
Nick Kartsonis, a member of Merck’s clinical research team, shared “We expect, based on what we know about the Omicron variant, that molnupiravir would be effective against this particular variant.”
Meanwhile, Pfizer is also developing a COVID-19 therapeutic — a pill known as Paxlovid. Paxlovid demonstrated about 89% effectiveness in reducing hospitalization and death among patients with severe COVID infections.
EU health authorities have also backed the use of Merck’s pill as an emergency therapeutic. $MRK gained 0.03% today.