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Coronavirus Update: Gates Foundation To Give $120m For Molnupiravir Access

 
• By Scrip Team

The foundation is donating to help supply Merck/Ridgeback’s antiviral to low-income nations; also Pfizer got one step closer to full approval for booster shots of Comirnaty, while the FDA authorized Moderna and J&J boosters, and Daiichi Sankyo made progress on its own mRNA vaccine candidate. Shionogi's once-daily oral antiviral is also moving forward.

• Source: Scrip Team

Merck & Co., Inc. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP’s molnupiravir is set to become accessible to COVID-19 patients in lower-income countries as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said it would fund efforts to increase its availability, shortly after the companies announced results showing the oral drug as highly effective in treating the disease.

The foundation said 19 October that it would commit up to $120m to accelerate access to molnupiravir – pending regulatory approvals – on top of the $1.9bn it has committed already to increasing access to vaccines, treatments and tests for the pandemic

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