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 (Reuters) -The U.S. government will buy another $1 billion worth of
the COVID-19 pill made by Merck & Co Inc and partner Ridgeback
Biotherapeutics, the companies said on Tuesday.
The government in June agreed to buy 1.7 million courses of
molnupiravir for $1.2 billion and is now exercising options to buy
1.4 million more.
That brings the total secured courses to 3.1 million and worth $2.2
billion. Merck said the government has the right to buy 2 million
more courses as part of the contract.
The drug has been closely watched since data last month showed that
when given early in the illness it could halve the chances of dying
or being hospitalized for those most at risk of developing severe
COVID-19.
"Molnupiravir, if authorized, will be among the vaccines and
medicines available to fight COVID-19 as part of our collective
efforts to bring this pandemic to an end," said Frank Clyburn,
president of Merck's human health business.
Merck's application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will
be taken up by a panel of independent experts on Nov. 30, following
which the regulator is expected to make a decision.
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 Several countries have rushed
to sign deals with Merck for the drug, which
could become the first oral antiviral treatment
for COVID-19. Britain last week became the first
country in the world to clear the use of the
capsules.
Merck expects to produce 10 million courses of
the treatment by the end of this year, with at
least 20 million set to be manufactured in 2022.
The U.S. government also has options to buy more
than 2 million additional courses under the
contract, the companies said.
Shares of Merck were up 1.5% in premarket
trading.
(Reporting by Manas Mishra and Leroy Leo in
Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Arun
Koyyur)
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