Merck and Pfizer test antiviral pills while Covid Battle goes beyond vaccines.

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Merck

i

Pfizer

both announced the start of trials to test oral antiviral drugs aimed at Covid-19 on Wednesday, highlighting growing interest in the coronavirus therapeutic products market.

Pfizer

The trial (ticker: PFE) is a phase 2/3 study of an oral antiviral known as PF-07321332 in symptomatic adult Covid-19 patients who are not hospitalized and are not at risk of developing a serious illness. . The trial is in addition to one the company began in July, which tested the same drug on outpatients who are at risk of developing a serious illness.

Meanwhile, Merck (MRK), along with its private partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, announced the start of a phase 3 trial of its oral antiviral molnupiravir as a post-exposure prophylaxis for patients living in it. home than a person with symptomatic Covid. -19.

The wave of Covid-19 therapeutic trials is taking place amid a growing consensus that the virus causing Covid-19 will not go away and that the disease will continue to pose some level of threat to the foreseeable future. This could create a substantial market for Covid-19 therapy, which has so far received little attention compared to vaccines.

The therapies developed so far to treat and prevent Covid-19 are also not very effective, such as

Gilead

(GILD) Veklury, or uncomfortable, such as monoclonal antibody therapies infused with

Regeneron

(KINGDOM) and others. In mid-August, Jefferies analysts predicted that an effective and convenient Covid-19 therapy could reach maximum sales of more than $ 10 billion a year.

Pfizer shares fell 0.8% in early trading on Wednesday, while Merck shares were flat. He

S&P 500

had gained 0.2%. Merck is down 2.1% this year, while Pfizer is up 24.1%.

Merck’s trial of molnupiravir as a post-exposure prophylaxis will attempt to enroll around 1,330 people, spread among those who will receive a placebo and a group who will get a five-day course of molnupiravir. The company is also testing the drug in a separate trial as a treatment for outpatients who have at least one risk factor associated with poor disease outcomes.

“As the pandemic continues to evolve and growth is recorded in many parts of the world, it is important that we investigate new ways to protect people exposed to the virus from symptomatic disease infection,” said Dr. Nick Kartsonis, a senior vice president of Merck Research Laboratories, in a statement.

Merck said in early June that it had reached an agreement to sell 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir treatment for $ 1.2 billion to the U.S. government, provided the drug received an emergency use authorization. the US Food and Drug Administration. The company says it expects to have 10 million courses of manufactured drugs by the end of the year.

In April, Merck said data from a first trial of molnupiravir suggest that the drug is unlikely to benefit hospitalized patients. A planned phase 3 trial of the drug in hospitalized patients was canceled.

Meanwhile, the new Pfizer trial will test its antiviral in 1,140 participants, who will receive a placebo or a five-day course of PF-07321332, also known as ritonavir. The trial is aimed at patients at low risk of serious illness, while the separate trial started in July is aimed at patients at high risk of serious illness.

“Success against # COVID19 will likely require both vaccines and treatments,” said company CEO Albert Bourla. wrote in a tweet early Wednesday.

Write to Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected]