COVID-19 - November 22, 2021
EMA issues advice on use of molnupiravir for COVID-19 treatment
EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has issued advice on the use of Merck’s (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) Lagevrio (also known as molnupiravir or MK 4482) for the treatment of COVID-19. The medicine, which is currently not authorized in the EU, can be used to treat adults with COVID-19 who do […]
COVID-19 - November 5, 2021
Merck’s COVID-19 pill approved in the UK
Merck and Ridgeback’s Molnupiravir, an oral COVID-19 antiviral medicine, receives first authorization in the world. U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency authorizes Molnupiravir for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults with a positive SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic test and who have at least one risk factor for developing severe illness. In the U.K., LAGEVRIO (lah-GEV-ree-oh) is […]
COVID-19 - October 4, 2021
Merck’s molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 50%
Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics have announced that molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral medicine, significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death at a planned interim analysis of the Phase 3 MOVe-OUT trial in at risk, non-hospitalized adult patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. “With these compelling results, we […]
Global report - August 23, 2017
Merck CEO quits Trump’s manufacturing council
The CEO of global pharma giant Merck, Kenneth Frazier, is resigning from President Donald Trump’s manufacturing council. The resignation came after a weekend of violence at a white-nationalist and neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. The president did not explicitly condemn white supremacists. In a statement Frazier said: “America’s leaders must honor our fundamental values by […]
Collaboration - August 7, 2017
AstraZeneca and Merck enter oncology collaboration
AstraZeneca and Merck & Co have entered a global strategic oncology collaboration to co-develop and co-commercialise AstraZeneca’s Lynparza (olaparib) for multiple cancer types. Lynparza is an oral poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitor currently approved for BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer in multiple lines of treatment. Lynparza’s pipeline has grown in the last few years, with 14 indications currently being […]
Pharma Business - April 2, 2015
Biosimilar Drug a Hit in Norway
A biosimilar of Merck’s popular arthritis drug Remicade is going for a discount of nearly 70 percent of the branded price in Norway, upsetting conventional wisdom and competitors, according to a FiercePharma article. Finnish drug company Orion Oyj, which licenses the biosimilar Remsima from South Korea’s Celltrion, began with a 39 percent discount for the […]
