Merck Teams Up With Five Indian Generic Players To Expand COVID-19 Drug Access, Production

Merck & Co Inc MRK has partnered with five Indian generic drugmakers to expand production and access to Molnupiravir, its experimental oral therapeutic for the treatment of COVID-19.
A part of these non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements includes Cipla Ltd, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd RDY, Emcure Pharmaceuticals Limited, and Hetero Labs Limited.
The partnership will give the companies license to supply Merck's molnupiravir to India and more than 100 low-and middle-income countries following approvals or emergency authorization by local regulatory agencies.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD also came forward to support India amid surging COVID-19 cases. It would give India at least 450,000 vials of its antiviral drug, remdesivir, and help boost production in India.
Molnupiravir is an antiviral therapy Merck is developing with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to treat non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
Last month the companies announced interim Phase 2 data, demonstrating a significant reduction in the infectious virus in COVID-19 patients after five days of treatment.
Price Action: MRK shares are down 0.09% at $77.53 in premarket trading on the last check Tuesday.