Fri 04 February 2022:
According to a financial statement filed Thursday, Merck expects to make up to $6 billion in sales from its coronavirus medication this year.
In the fourth quarter, the US pharmaceutical company reported it made $952 million from the sale of its COVID-19 oral therapy tablet, molnupiravir.
Merck Chief Financial Officer Caroline Litchfield said in an interview it is possible the company could top those sales estimates for molnupiravir, which are based on already signed supply agreements for around 10 million courses of the drug. Merck still expects to produce an aggregate of 30 million treatment courses of molnupiravir by the end of the year, she said.
“Depending on how the pandemic plays out, could there be upside to this?” Litchfield said. “Yes, we’ve got the supply to provide more product to the markets.”
Merck launched molnupiravir on Oct. 1, claiming that it decreases hospitalizations and fatalities by 30% in adults with high-risk conditions, according to clinical trials.
It was approved as a second at-home drug treatment for the virus by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 23, a day after Pfizer’s Paxlovid got a green light.
Merck has delivered 1.4 million courses of molnupiravir after approval.
The company is planning to deliver 3.1 million courses across the US in the following months, in addition to supplying 4 million courses to 25 countries this year, said CEO Rob Davis.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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