Merck, based in New Jersey, said on Saturday that the experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir that it has been developing with Ridgeback Bio showed a rapid reduction in the infectious virus in a study among participants with initial COVID-19.
“We continue to make progress in our Phase 2/3 clinical programs by evaluating molnupiravir in outpatient and hospital settings,” said Roy Baynes, head of global clinical development and medical director at Merck Research Laboratories.
Ridgeback Biotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on emerging infectious diseases. Currently, it markets Ebanga for the treatment of Ebola
Molnupiravir, which Merck employees said has proven effective in several strains of SARS-CoV-2, was invented at Drug Innovations at Emory, a wholly owned biotechnology company at Emory University.
The company said that of 202 treated participants, no “safety signs” were identified in the ongoing clinical trial and of the 4 serious adverse events reported, none were considered to be related to the study drug.
“The results of the secondary objective in this study, of a more rapid decrease in the infectious virus among individuals with initial COVID-19 treated with molnupiravir, are promising,” said William Fischer, associate professor of medicine at the University of Carolina School of Medicine. Norte, in a statement by the two companies.
Last month, Merck – which is based in Kenilworth, said it was giving up two potential COVID vaccines on its own after poor results in early-stage studies.
But earlier this week, Merck announced that it would help produce the coronavirus vaccine recently approved by Johnson & Johnson in an effort to expand supply more quickly.
“We are firmly committed to contributing to the global response to the pandemic as part of the remarkable efforts of the entire medical and scientific community,” said Mike Nally, executive vice president of Human Health at Merck.
The announcement came at a time when the White House was seeking to accelerate the production of the single-dose vaccine, after J&J faced unexpected production problems with its vaccine and produced only 3.9 million doses before receiving emergency use authorization. last week.
The US Department of Health and Human Services Advanced Biomedical Research and Development Authority will provide Merck with financing of up to $ 268.8 million to adapt and make available several existing manufacturing facilities for the production of vaccines and drugs COVID-19, said company. .
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Ted Sherman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL.