MERCK

The regulator said the experimental antiviral pill is effective against the virus but identified several potential risks, including birth defects.

Federal health regulators said they will seek input from outside experts on risks of birth defects and other potential problems during pregnancy.

The Food and Drug Administration has determined that Merck’s COVID-19 pill is effective in treating the coronavirus, but more research on potential issues is needed. There are several potential risks including possible toxicity and birth defects. If approved, Merck’s COVID-19 pill would be the first treatment that can be used at home, the AP reported. More coronavirus pandemic coverage:>> Coronavirus: How long between exposure to the virus and the start of symptoms? This tool will tell you>> How to not let coronavirus pandemic fatigue set in, battle back if it does©2021 Cox Media Group

U.S. health officials say Merck's experimental COVID-19 pill is effective but they raised questions about its safety during pregnancy.

These are the stocks posting the largest moves in the premarket.

AMSTERDAM — (AP) — The European Medicines Agency said it has received a request from Merck to authorize its coronavirus antiviral, the first pill shown to treat COVID-19. In a statement Tuesday, the EU drug regulator said it had started evaluating molnupiravir, made by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and that a decision could be made within weeks on whether it might be cleared. The agency said the drug should be given as soon as possible after COVID-19 has been diagnosed and within five days of symptoms starting. The U.K. licensed molnupiravir for adults diagnosed with COVID-19 and with at least one risk factor for severe disease. Merck has said it can produce 10 million treatment courses this year, but much of that supply has already been purchased by governments worldwide.

The European Medicines Agency says it has received a request from Merck to authorize its coronavirus antiviral, the first pill shown to treat COVID-19.

The European Medicines Agency has issued emergency use advice for using Merck’s COVID-19 pill, even though the oral medicine has not yet been authorized.

Bill Gates says vaccines and antiviral drugs could get the Covid pandemic to a manageable point by summer 2022. Here's how.

Antiviral pills that treat Covid are on the way to approval. Here's what you need to know about molnupiravir from Merck and Paxlovid from Pfizer, two promising medications.

It is one of a handful of pills that have recently been shown to significantly cut hospitalizations and deaths among people infected with COVID-19.

Drugmaker is asking regulators to authorize its experimental coronavirus pill for people with mild to moderate infections.

Pfizer COVID Pill This image provided by Pfizer shows its COVID-19 pill. (Pfizer via AP) (thomas hansmann.fotograf)WASHINGTON — (AP) — Pfizer said Tuesday it is asking U.S. regulators to authorize its experimental pill for COVID-19, setting the stage for a likely launch of the promising therapy in the coming weeks. All FDA authorized treatments against COVID-19 require an IV or injection given by a health professional at a hospital or clinic. Pfizer reported earlier this month that its pill cut hospitalizations and deaths by 89% among high-risk adults who had early symptoms of COVID-19. For best results, patients need to start taking the pills within three days of symptoms, underscoring the need for speedy testing and diagnosis.

Pfizer is seeking U.S. authorization of its experimental COVID-19 treatment pill.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — (AP) — The European Union's medicines agency on Monday began reviewing Merck's COVID-19 treatment pill so that it can swiftly advise national drug authorities in the 27-nation bloc that want to begin using it before it gets official approval. Merck's COVID-19 pill is already under review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after showing strong initial results. Patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 would take four pills of the drug twice a day for five days. In the United States, the FDA has set a public meeting later this month to review molnupiravir. That genetic activity has led some independent experts to question whether the drug could potentially cause mutations leading to birth defects or tumors.

Merck and Pfizer are pursuing emergency authorization for pills to treat COVID-19.

Top health officials sounded off before a key Senate committee about what happens next in the fight against the coronavirus.

Booster doses as well as Pfizer's new Covid pills could be a powerful combo in the fight against Covid.

Based on the strength of the trial's results, Pfizer says it will ask the FDA for emergency use authorization rather than enroll more people for clinical trials.

The drugmaker says it will ask for FDA authorization as soon as possible.

Pfizer announced Friday that it will be seeking authorization for a new antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 that clinical trials showed to be highly effective among those who are at high risk from the virus. >> Read more trending newsThe pill, which is combined with ritonavir, which is an HIV drug, was shown to reduce hospitalizations or deaths from the COVID-19 virus by up to 89% among high-risk patients, Pfizer said in a news release. News of the antiviral pill comes the same week as Merck announced it had developed an antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 in high-risk patients. According to Merck, the drug was 50% effective in preventing serious illness from the virus. The government ordered the same amount of the Merck pill, the Times reported.

Pfizer Results FILE - The Pfizer logo is displayed at the company's headquarters, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in New York. Competitor Merck’s COVID-19 pill is already under review at the Food and Drug Administration after showing strong initial results, and on Thursday the United Kingdom became the first country to OK it. Study participants were unvaccinated, with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, and were considered high risk for hospitalization due to health problems like obesity, diabetes or heart disease. The company reported in September that its drug cut rates of hospitalization and death by 50%. The U.S. has approved one other antiviral drug for COVID-19, remdesivir, and authorized three antibody therapies that help the immune system fight the virus.

Pfizer said it will ask the FDA and international regulators to authorize its pill as soon as possible.

Pfizer says effectiveness of COVID antiviral pill is 'beyond our wildest dreams'

Pfizer Results FILE - The Pfizer logo is displayed at the company's headquarters, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021, in New York. Competitor Merck’s COVID-19 pill is already under review at the Food and Drug Administration after showing strong initial results, and on Thursday the United Kingdom became the first country to OK it. Study participants were unvaccinated, with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, and were considered high risk for hospitalization due to health problems like obesity, diabetes or heart disease. The company reported in September that its drug cut rates of hospitalization and death by 50%. The U.S. has approved one other antiviral drug for COVID-19, remdesivir, and authorized three antibody therapies that help the immune system fight the virus.

Pfizer says its experimental pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% among patients with mild-to-moderate infections.

Pfizer said its Covid-19 pill, used with an HIV drug, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% in high-risk adults who've been exposed to the virus.

Good news about at-home Covid treatments from Merck and Pfizer offer some hope as infections surge again.

Patients 18 and older with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 would take four pills of the drug, known as molnupiravir, twice a day for five days.

Patients 18 and older with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 would take four pills of the drug, known as molnupiravir, twice a day for five days.

Molnupiravir, an antiviral pill being developed by Merck & Co., has been touted as a potential game changer in the fight against Covid-19. The experimental medication was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about half in a late-stage study of adults with mild-to-moderate cases. The promise of a drug that patients can easily get and take at home has prompted some governments to order supplies even before most regulators have decided whether to approve its use.

Molnupiravir, an antiviral pill being developed by Merck & Co., has been touted as a potential game changer in the fight against Covid-19. The experimental medication was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about half in a late-stage study of adults with mild-to-moderate cases. The promise of a drug that patients can easily get and take at home has prompted some governments to order supplies even before most regulators have decided whether to approve its use.

The U.K. is the first country to approve an at-home treatment for the virus. The decision couldn’t be timelier.

The pill is licensed for adults 18 or older who have tested positive for the virus and have at least one health risk factor.

The pill is licensed for adults 18 or older who have tested positive for the virus and have at least one health risk factor.

(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) (Lee Jin-man)Stocks are opening modestly higher on Wall Street Thursday, potentially setting the market up to set more record highs. Technology stocks were among the biggest winners, while banks and health care companies lagged behind. France's CAC 40 added 0.5% in early trading to 6,984.21, while Germany's DAX rose 0.5% to 16,035.43. U.S. shares were set to drift higher, with Dow futures inching up nearly 0.1% to 36,054.00. If that pace is maintained, the Fed could be done winding down its bond purchases as early as June.

"The U.K. is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for COVID-19," Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said.

"The U.K. is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for COVID-19," Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said.

Virus Outbreak Britain Merck Pill FILE - The Merck corporate headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J. on May 1, 2018. Britain has granted a conditional authorization to Merck's coronavirus antiviral, the first pill shown to successfully treat COVID-19. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) (Seth Wenig)LONDON — (AP) — Britain has granted a conditional authorization to Merck's coronavirus antiviral, the first pill shown to successfully treat COVID-19. Last year, researchers at Emory University decided to repurpose the drug as a potential COVID-19 treatment. While other treatments have been cleared to treat COVID-19, including steroids and monoclonal antibodies, those are administered by injection or infusion and are mostly for hospitalized patients.

UK authorizes Merck's coronavirus treatment This May 1, 2018, file photo shows Merck corporate headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)LONDON — Officials in the United Kingdom have authorized Merck’s COVID-19 pill, The Associated Press is reporting. >> Read more trending newsPlease return for updates on this developing story. More coronavirus pandemic coverage:>> Coronavirus: How long between exposure to the virus and the start of symptoms? >> What are your chances of coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19? This tool will tell you>> How to not let coronavirus pandemic fatigue set in, battle back if it does©2021 Cox Media Group

LONDON — (AP) —Britain has granted a conditional authorization to Merck's coronavirus antiviral, the first pill shown to successfully treat COVID-19. It is the first country to OK the treatment, although it was not immediately clear how quickly the pill would be available. It would also bolster the two-pronged approach to the pandemic: treatment, by way of medication, and prevention, primarily through vaccinations. Last year, researchers at Emory University decided to repurpose the drug as a potential COVID-19 treatment. Last week, Merck agreed to allow other drugmakers to make its COVID-19 pill, in a move aimed at helping millions of people in poorer countries get access.

Britain has granted a conditional authorization to Merck’s coronavirus antiviral.

Medical researchers have been hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed​ to treat coronavirus.

Results from tests of the drug fluvoxamine published in Lancet Global Health this week were so strong that independent experts recommended stopping the study early because the results were clear.

Researchers found an affordable antidepressant can treat COVID-19 in the early stages.

Researchers found an affordable antidepressant can treat COVID-19 in the early stages.

Medical researchers have been hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed​ to treat coronavirus.

"We're on pace to have 10 million courses ready before the end of this year, and more than double that next year," Merck CEO Robert Davis told CNBC on Thursday.

Coronavirus: Antidepressant fluvoxamine may reduce COVID-19 hospitalization risk, study finds This 2020 electron microscope image provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Rocky Mountain Laboratories shows SARS-CoV-2 virus particles which cause COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. (NIAID-RML via AP)A new study has found that the antidepressant fluvoxamine may reduce the risk of hospitalization in adult COVID-19 patients with underlying health conditions, The Associated Press is reporting. About 49.5% of participants took the inexpensive antidepressant for 10 days, while the remaining 50.5% took a placebo. More coronavirus pandemic coverage:>> Coronavirus: How long between exposure to the virus and the start of symptoms? This tool will tell you>> How to not let coronavirus pandemic fatigue set in, battle back if it does©2021 Cox Media Group

Researchers found an affordable antidepressant can treat COVID-19 in the early stages.

According to a study released in The Lancet Global Health on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, Fluvoxamine, a cheap antidepressant, reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19. (NIAID-RML via AP) (Uncredited)A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus. “We hope it will lead to a lot of lives saved.”The pill, called fluvoxamine, would cost $4 for a course of COVID-19 treatment. By comparison, antibody IV treatments cost about $2,000 and Merck's experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 is about $700 per course. The cheap generic and Merck's COVID-19 pill work in different ways and “may be complementary,” said Dr. Paul Sax of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the study.

A new study found a cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19.

A cheap antidepressant reduced the need for hospitalization among high-risk adults with COVID-19 in a study hunting for existing drugs that could be repurposed to treat coronavirus. Researchers tested the pill used for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder because it was known to reduce inflammation and looked promising in smaller studies. “If WHO recommends this, you will see it widely taken up,” said study co-author Dr. Edward Mills of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, adding that many poor nations have the drug readily available.

The company says the move will expand access to COVID treatments to poorer countries.

The drug, known as molnupiravir, has shown promise in treating the disease. The agreement to license its production could help millions of people in the developing world gain access to it.

COVID pill FILE PHOTO: This May 1, 2018, file photo shows Merck corporate headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J. The company said it will allow other companies to make its COVID-19 pill. Read more: https://t.co/n064OEPany $MRK pic.twitter.com/ZWtnpPqZa2 — Merck (@Merck) October 27, 2021>> Read more trending newsRead more here. More coronavirus pandemic coverage:>> Coronavirus: How long between exposure to the virus and the start of symptoms? This tool will tell you>> How to not let coronavirus pandemic fatigue set in, battle back if it does©2021 Cox Media Group

LONDON — (AP) —Pharmaceutical company Merck agreed to allow other drug makers worldwide to produce its COVID-19 pill, in a move aimed at helping millions of people in poorer countries get access to the potentially life-saving drug, a United Nations-backed public health organization said on Wednesday. The Medicines Patent Pool said in a statement that it had signed a voluntary licensing agreement for molnupiravir with Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. The agreement will allow the Medicines Patent Pool to grant further licenses to qualified companies who are approved to make the drug. Neither drug maker will receive royalties under the agreement for as long as the World Health Organization deems COVID-19 to be global emergency. Merck has requested its pill be licensed by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, decisions that could come within weeks.

A man was shot and killed in Pine Hills around 7:23 p.m. Friday, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

An Orange County road is closed due to law enforcement activity Friday afternoon.

Coppertone is voluntarily recalling five aerosol sunscreens due to the presence of the carcinogen benzene.

Drugmaker Merck says its experimental COVID-19 pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half in people recently infected with the coronavirus.

A decline in COVID-19 cases across the United States over the past several weeks has given overwhelmed hospitals some relief.

Stocks rebounded on Wall Street Friday but still ended with their worst weekly decline since February.

U.S. regulators have approved a new pneumonia vaccine from Merck, more than a month after OK'ing an improved version of rival Pfizer’s shot.

A new study shows screening and the HPV vaccine have led to drops in cervical cancers over the last two decades in the U.S. But those gains are offset by a rise in other tumors caused by the virus.

White House aides said Biden’s first priority is ensuring that Americans are vaccinated before considering distributing doses elsewhere. AdRussia has sent millions of doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to countries around the world, even as it vaccinates its own population. Israel, which has vaccinated more than half of its population with Pfizer vaccines produced in Europe, has also attempted to use vaccine diplomacy to reward allies. Biden's purchasing strategy has come under criticism from nongovernmental organizations who have encouraged the White House to develop clear plans and thresholds for sharing vaccine with the world. So we’re not going to be ultimately safe until the world is safe,” acknowledged Biden.

The administration is invoking the Defense Production Act, a wartime measure that gives the federal government authority to direct private companies to meet the needs of the national defense, to equip two Merck facilities to produce the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. AdBiden said Johnson & Johnson will operate 24/7 to produce the vaccine. Tom Wolf said Tuesday that teachers will receive doses of the newly approved one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, under a plan his administration will release. AdHe gave few details, but said he and a bipartisan legislative task force agreed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should be set aside for teachers and then other workers considered to be essential, but who are not included in the first vaccination phase. States are receiving 2.8 million doses of the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)KENILWORTH – Longtime Merck executive Ken Frazier, whose leadership helped bring the drugmaker one of the most lucrative medicines in history and who is one of the few remaining Black CEOs of a major corporation, is retiring. Frazier, Merck’s CEO since early 2011 and an advocate for minority advancement who took on then-President Trump’s tacit support of white supremacists, will retire on June 30. He is one of the few Black CEOs at the head of a Fortune 500 company. At Merck, Frazier clashed with then-President Donald Trump over his refusal to condemn violence by the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. Share prices have more than doubled, and revenue has nearly doubled, under Frazier as CEO.

Merck is giving up on two potential COVID-19 vaccines following poor results in early-stage studies. The company said its potential vaccines were well tolerated by patients, but they generated an inferior immune system response compared with other vaccines. Merck was developing one of the potential vaccines with France’s Pasteur Institute based on an existing measles vaccine. It said last fall that it had started early-stage research in volunteers on potential vaccines that require only one dose. Five potential vaccines have reached late-stage testing in the United States, the final phase before a drugmaker seeks approval from regulators.

The strong result was due to sales slightly higher than a year ago, plus restrained spending. The Kenilworth, New Jersey, company on Tuesday said it’s making progress on three efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic: two vaccines and an antiviral drug. Meanwhile, Merck is developing two experimental vaccines that only require one dose, unlike the many two-dose vaccines further along in human testing. Merck reported revenue of $12.55 billion, also easily beating analyst projections for $12.26 billion. Veterinary medicine sales jumped 9%, to $1.22 billion.