US govt buys 1.4 million additional courses of molnupiravir

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said yesterday the US government will exercise two of its options to purchase a total of 1.4 million additional courses of molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, if the med is granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for around $1 billion.

With these exercised options, the US government has now committed to purchase a total of about 3.1 million courses of molnupiravir, for around $2.2 billion, between authorization and early 2022. The US government also has the ability to purchase more than 2 million additional courses through further options that remain in the contract.

Merck's shares edged up 1.9% in Tuesday’s pre-market trading following the announcement. The stock had lost 8.7% over the previous two sessions, after closing at a record $90.54 on November 4, after rival Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) released Phase II/III results on its COVID-19 oral antiviral candidate, Paxlovid (ritonavir), that appeared to show greater efficacy than Merck's pill.