Merck has halted development of two potential vaccines for the coronavirus, citing data showing a lack of immune response, Bloomberg reported.
The two vaccine candidates, resulting from the technology used to develop Merck’s Ebola and measles vaccines, produced fewer antibodies than existing vaccines, according to interim data.
“We didn’t have what we needed to move forward,” said Nick Kartsonis, senior vice president of clinical research for infectious diseases and vaccines, who called the data “disappointing and a bit of a surprise.”
While the news comes now that vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have begun to distribute, the roll-out of those vaccines has lagged behind its original targets and new, more aggressive virus strains have emerged whose resilience to those vaccines remains unclear.
Kartsonis told Bloomberg that after stopping development, the company will shift funds to two late-development drugs to treat the virus.
“In the world of pharmaceutical development, a quick kill isn’t a bad thing because it allows you to reposition and reuse your resources,” he said.
Merck will overhaul several of its manufacturing facilities to produce another, more complex, coronavirus drug candidate, which has shown promising results for the recovery of patients requiring oxygen in an interim trial. The company expects to release full results in the first quarter of 2021, after which it expects emergency use approval. According to Bloomberg, the federal government has agreed to purchase up to 100,000 doses for $ 365 million.
In addition to this candidate, the drugmaker is developing a pill to treat patients in the early stages of the virus, the studies of which will be completed in May. Chief Marketing Officer Michael Nally said the company expects to be able to produce more than 20 million courses of the antiviral drug, which patients will take twice a day for five days.