Merck pulls the plug from two options Covid-19 Vaccines after poor results in early stage studies. The drugmaker said Monday it will instead focus on studying two potential treatments for the virus that are also yet to be approved by regulators.
Merck said his potential vaccines were well-tolerated by patients, but they caused an inferior immune system compared to other competitors’ new vaccines. The company is instead focusing its efforts on advancing clinical programs and manufacturing two potential treatment drugs for the virus: MK-7110 and MK-4482 (also known as molnupiravir. Molnupiravir is being developed in partnership with Ridgeback Bio.
“We are committed to contributing to the global effort to ease the burden of this pandemic on patients, healthcare systems and communities,” said Dr. Dean Y. Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, in a press release.
Merck later entered the race to fight COVID-19 than other top drugs. It said last fall that it had begun early-stage research in volunteers for potential vaccines requiring only one dose. Vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna were already at a late stage of research at that time.
Shares of the company fell 1% after the announcement on Monday morning.
The Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines late last year. Each requires two shots.
Since the vaccinations began in December, nearly 22 million doses have been delivered to people across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 3.2 million people in the US have received both doses required for those vaccines.
Operation Warp Speed
The government is paying Merck about $ 356 million to accelerate production of one of its potential treatments under Operation Warp Speed, an effort to develop COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
The money will allow the Kenilworth, New Jersey, company to deliver 100,000 doses by June 30 if the FDA approves the treatment for emergency use.
The treatment, known as MK-7110, has the potential to minimize the deleterious effects of an overactive immune response to COVID-19, which can complicate the lifesaving efforts of doctors and nurses. According to a company press release, Phase 3 study data showed that the risk of death or respiratory failure in hospitalized COVID-19 patients treated with a single dose of MK-7110 was reduced by more than 50%.
Meanwhile, molnupiravir, the company’s other treatment still in clinical trials, is an oral drug that can stop the spread of the virus through the community by suppressing the virus in the carrier.
“In fact, this drug can quickly block the transmission from an infected animal or patient to an uninfected contact or person,” says Dr. Richard Plemper, who leads a research team of eight scientists at Georgia State University who have studied the drug, told CBS partner WGCL-TV’s Hayley Mason. If approved by the FDA, the drug could be a “game-changer,” Plemper said.