Merck, Ridgeback submit EUA application for their pill to treat COVID-19

Merck & Co. Inc. /zigman2/quotes/209956077/composite MRK +0.91% and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said Monday that Merck has submitted an application for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the Food and Drug Administration for molnupiravir, their oral antiviral medicine for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults. The companies said the application followed positive results from a Phase 3 trial which showed that with adults at risk for progressing to severe COVID-19, molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 50%. The companies said 7.3% (28 of 385) of those who received molnupiravir were hospitalized and there were not deaths after 29 days, while 14.1% of patients treated with a placebo (53 of 377) were hospitalized and there were eight deaths. "The extraordinary impact of this pandemic demands that we move with unprecedented urgency, and that is what our teams have done by submitting this application for molnupiravir to the FDA within 10 days of receiving the data," said Merck Chief Executive Robert Davis. Merck's stock, which fell 1.2% in premarket trading, has gained 3.4% year to date, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA -0.61% has advanced 13.5%.