Merck strikes deal for global access to molnupiravir

GENEVA, Switzerland — US drugmaker Merck & Co. on Wednesday announced a deal that could see generic versions of its anti-COVID-19 medication for people infected with the disease widely distributed in poorer countries.

The global Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) said it had signed a voluntary licensing agreement with Merck to facilitate affordable worldwide access for its  investigational oral COVID-19 antiviral medicine molnupiravir.

Subject to regulatory approval, the deal will help create broad access for use of molnupiravir in 105 low- and middle-income countries.

The US and European Union medicines regulators are already reviewing the drug.

Antivirals like molnupiravir work by decreasing the ability of a virus to replicate, thereby slowing down the disease.

Given to patients within days of a positive test, the treatment halves the risk of hospitalization, according to a clinical trial conducted by Merck, also called MSD outside the United States.

The Geneva-based MPP is a United Nations-backed international organization that works to facilitate the development of medicines for low- and middle-income nations.

Under the deal, Merck grants a license to the MPP, under which the organization can then sub-license to makers of generic drugs,

The deal means the drug's developers will not receive sales royalties while COVID-19 remains classified as a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization.

A PHEIC is the highest alarm the WHO can sound and its emergency committee last week reconfirmed the pandemic's top-alert status.

"The interim results for molnupiravir are compelling and we see this oral treatment candidate as a potentially important tool to help address the current health crisis," said MPP executive director Charles Gore.

Merck is jointly developing molnupiravir with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.

The Miami-based company's chief executive Wendy Holman said: "We are pleased to collaborate with MPP to ensure that quality-assured generic versions of molnupiravir can be developed and distributed quickly following regulatory authorization.

"Partnerships and collaboration can do more to address global health challenges than any organization could do on its own." — Agence France-Presse