Shares in Merck & Co climb as UK wastes no time in approving molnupiravir

4 November 2021

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) was trading 2% higher by Thursday lunchtime following news on molnupiravir.

The drug, which Merck is developing in collaboration with privately-held US biotech Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, has received an approval from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

"We will continue to move with both rigor and urgency to bring molnupiravir to patients around the world as quickly as possible"It has been approved for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults with a positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test and who have at least one risk factor for developing severe illness, becoming the first oral antiviral medicine authorized in this indication anywhere in the world.

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