Robert Davis, CEO of Merck, told CNBC on Thursday that the drug maker would be ready to manufacture and distribute tens of millions of doses of its Covid antiviral pills if it receives regulatory approval.
“Right now we are well on the way to having 10 million courses completed by the end of this year and more than double by the end of the year,” said Robert Davis, CEO of Merck, to Squawk Box.
An advisory committee of the Food and Drug Administration is due on Nov. 30 to evaluate the safety and efficacy data of the pill, known as molnupiravir, and decide whether or not it will be approved for emergency approval in the United States. Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics said internal data suggested that molnupiravir cut the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid in half. Patients take four tablets twice a day for five days.
“I can tell you, from the data we’ve seen and the studies we’ve done, that we believe this is a safe drug,” said Davis.
If approved, molnupiravir would be the first approved Covid treatment in tablet form and would also help diversify the company’s appeal to investors tired of Merck’s over-reliance on its cancer drug Keytruda for business growth. Merck also recently acquired the biopharmaceutical company Acceleron to expand its cardiovascular pipeline.
Merck has reached an agreement with a United Nations-supported group to support the global production of the Covid antiviral pill. The deal would allow molnupiravir to be manufactured by qualified pharmaceutical companies worldwide to address health inequalities exposed through vaccine sales. Merck will not receive any royalties from the sale of the pill as long as Covid is classified as a public health emergency by the World Health Organization.
According to the WHO, there have been more than 244 million confirmed cases of Covid and 4.9 million deaths worldwide since the beginning of the pandemic.
Davis said he sees many opportunities for Merck in the future. “We’re excited about our pipeline, we’re excited about our ability to grow … we frankly continue to believe our growth will be underestimated through 2024 so I think there are more opportunities for this stock,” he added .
Merck beat Wall Street’s expectations for quarterly results, and its shares rose about 2% early Thursday. The company had adjusted $ 1.75 per share on revenue of $ 13.1 billion for the third quarter. Merck has raised its annual outlook.
