Corona: Antiviral Pill Can Soon Be Accessible to Even the Poorest Countries

A pharmaceutical giant based in New York, United States, will share its formula for the Covid-19 pill it is currently developing so the world’s poorest nations can manufacture the treatment at a much lower cost in an effort to stop the pandemic.

“The Merck license is a very good and meaningful protection for people living in countries where more than half of the world’s population lives,” says James Love from Knowledge Ecology International, a nonprofit research organization. “This is hopefully going to make things a lot easier in terms of keeping people out of hospital and stopping people dying in low- and middle-income countries,” adds Charles Gore, director of the Medicines Patent Pool, an organization working to make medical treatment globally available.

Following a large clinical test, Merck was able to say that the drug cuts in half the rate of hospitalizations and deaths when patients took the treatment soon after being infected. A total of 105 countries – mainly in Africa and Asia – will be able to manufacture Merck’s antiviral pill called Molnupiravir, and more than 50 companies have already shown interest in acquiring a sublicense. The pill could cost $20 for a 5-day course treatment or even $8 per course in a generic version – compared to the original $712 per course. Pfizer will soon conclude its late-stage trials on a Covid antiviral pill, and the company is in talks to share its formula as well.