Merck is set to provide the United Nations Children’s Fund with up to 3 million doses of its COVID-19 antiviral pill.
The pharmaceutical company announced it will provide molnupiravir to UNICEF over the first half of 2022 for distribution to 100 low- and middle-income countries, pending local regulatory authorizations.
“I am proud of the fact that patients in these low- and middle-income countries will gain access at the same time as patients in countries with higher incomes,” Merck CEO and President Robert Davis said in a statement, per The Hill.
CEO of Merck partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics Wendy Holman said the drug “can play a significant role in the global efforts to address the pandemic,” adding the agreement with UNICEF will “help address global health challenges and inequities.”
As previously reported by Human Events News, the FDA in December authorized the use of molnupiravir, the second such emergency use authorization in the last two days.
The pill helped to prevent high-risk people from becoming seriously sick and dying, cutting the risk of hospitalization or death by about 50 percent.
A course of the treatment is 40 pills, eight a day for five days, started within five days of showing symptoms.
