Thailand in talks with Merck for 200,000 courses of pill for COVID-19 treatment

[snoop1130]

FILE PHOTO: An experimental COVID-19 treatment pill called molnupiravir being developed by Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, is seen in this undated handout photo released by Merck & Co Inc and obtained by Reuters May 17, 2021. Merck & Co Inc/Handout via REUTERS

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's government is in talks with U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co to purchase 200,000 courses of the company's experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 treatment, a Thai official said on Monday.

 

Many Asian countries are scrambling to lock in supplies of the potential treatment early after they lagged behind Western nations in COVID-19 vaccine rollouts, hit by tight supplies.

 

South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia said they are all in talks to buy Merck's potential treatment, while the Philippines, which is running a trial on the pill, said it hopes its domestic study would allow access to the treatment.

 

They all declined to provide details on purchase negotiations.

 

Somsak Akksilp, director-general of the Department of Medical Services, told Reuters that Thailand is currently working on a purchasing agreement for the antiviral drug, known as molnupiravir.

 

The molnupiravir pills, designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus, would be the first oral antiviral medication for COVID-19.

 

Interim clinical trials indicated it could reduce by around 50% the chance of hospitalisation or death for patients at risk of severe disease from COVID-19.

 

"We are now working on a purchasing agreement with Merck that is expected to be completed by this week ... we have pre-booked 200,000 courses," Somsak said

 

He said the pills could arrive as soon as December, though the deal would be subject to the pills' approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration and the Thai regulator.

 

Representatives at Merck's Thailand office were not immediately reachable.

 

Daily confirmed COVID-19 cases in Thailand fell below 10,000 on Monday for the first time since mid-July. The country has administered 55.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far, fully inoculating about 31% of the population.

 

Merck has said it expects to produce 10 million courses of the treatment by the end of 2021. It has a U.S. government contract to supply 1.7 million courses of molnupiravir at a price of $700 per course.

 

The company has said it plans a tiered pricing approach based on country income criteria.

 

In the Philippines, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told a regular news conference on Monday that, "We see we can have more access to this medicine because we have this clinical trial counterpart."

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-10-04

 

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(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Additional reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila, Hyonhee Shin in Seoul, Ben Blanchard in Taipei and Patpicha Tanakasempipat in Bangkok; Writing by Kay Johnson; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Himani Sarkar)

[RotBenz8888]

Sure we don't have to wait a year, like with the vaccine? Maybe we'll have a "Chula-pill" instead? Meanwhile, people here should just bite the bullet and wait for Smugface's interest. 

[Kevin Taylor]

Merck is the company that used to make Ivermectin under patent.

Just saying.

[trainman34014]

That's enough for all the 'Important People' then and the other 60 Million are expendable !    Anyway; talking is the only thing they are good at but when it comes to handing over the advanced cash it becomes another matter.

[bluejets]

Scott Morison has put in an order for 300,000 of the same, awaiting normal testing etc.

no mention of how much though......

 

https://www.9news.com.au/national/coronavirus-australia-treatment-covid-pill-molnupiravir-may-be-ready-for-use-in-australia-by-2020-after-deal-made-with-merck-sharp--dohme/0f04b8fb-2d9d-443d-beb9-ce2a1a48abd3

Edited October 5, 2021 by bluejets

[JonnyF]

Surely China has an inferior version that Thailand can buy at twice the price?

[mtls2005]

52 minutes ago, JonnyF said:

Surely China has an inferior version that Thailand can buy at twice the price?

Japan.

 

Favipiravir.

 

 

[dlclark97]

In the U.S. the Merck pill is still undergoing testing.  It does not even have emergency use authorization yet.  The U.S. may have very high standards for this testing but once approved for EUA you can be pretty sure it is safe to use.  And, 200,000 pills?  Let's see, with a population of 70 million I believe that 200,000 would cover 0.00286% of the population. 

[TooMuchTime]

5 minutes ago, dlclark97 said:

In the U.S. the Merck pill is still undergoing testing.  It does not even have emergency use authorization yet.  The U.S. may have very high standards for this testing but once approved for EUA you can be pretty sure it is safe to use.  And, 200,000 pills?  Let's see, with a population of 70 million I believe that 200,000 would cover 0.00286% of the population. 

Depends on how much Merck donates to the FDA before it gets approved.  Only a measly 45% of the FDA is funded by Pharma companies.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/27/fact-check-some-fdas-budget-does-come-industry-funding/5572076001/

 

Don't worry if you think there are any conflicts of interest.  The US and all of its agencies are well respected and are held to the highest standards to insure no corruption takes place.  They value people over profits.

Edited October 5, 2021 by TooMuchTime

[pseudorabies]

Quote

Thailand's government is in talks....

If true then I think it's great that the Thai government is getting in line early.  However what this government is apparently focused on and good at is talking without taking action. Probably just for the purpose of press releases such as these.

[Toany]

14 hours ago, Kevin Taylor said:

Merck is the company that used to make Ivermectin under patent.

Just saying.

Ivermectin 1฿ per tablet   New drug $700 for a 5 day course.  Guess which one the Government will go with

 

[Toany]

14 hours ago, Kevin Taylor said:

Merck is the company that used to make Ivermectin under patent.

Just saying.

Be fair to Merck,  How can they make a decent profit on a product like Ivermectin that can be bought around the world for less than 2฿ a tablet.  They need a super drug.  I have seen a report that the course of 10 tablets will cost $700

 

[Cake Monster]

14 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

That's enough for all the 'Important People' then and the other 60 Million are expendable !    Anyway; talking is the only thing they are good at but when it comes to handing over the advanced cash it becomes another matter.

At $700 per course, these will be locked away tin the First Aid Cabinet of Government House.

Cheap Insurance Policy for those that think they may need it.

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, dlclark97 said:

And, 200,000 pills?  Let's see, with a population of 70 million I believe that 200,000 would cover 0.00286% of the population. 

FYI, it's a treatment not a prophylaxis.

 

 

 

 

[John Drake]

Merck is a US company. Don't know why Thailand should get the pills if they don't want to let the American vaccines in.

[vandeventer]

3 hours ago, dlclark97 said:

In the U.S. the Merck pill is still undergoing testing.  It does not even have emergency use authorization yet.  The U.S. may have very high standards for this testing but once approved for EUA you can be pretty sure it is safe to use.  And, 200,000 pills?  Let's see, with a population of 70 million I believe that 200,000 would cover 0.00286% of the population. 

I also hear it has a problem destroying DNA, so I won't be the first one taking it.

[chilly07]

Why didn't Thailand volunteer for the trials? Beaten to the punch by the Philippines? Still waiting for others to test and accept a lifesaving drug just like vaccines? Thai education and religion still preventing original thought and innovation or Officials can't yet see the profit share as only one source?

 

[chilly07]

3 hours ago, dlclark97 said:

In the U.S. the Merck pill is still undergoing testing.  It does not even have emergency use authorization yet.  The U.S. may have very high standards for this testing but once approved for EUA you can be pretty sure it is safe to use.  And, 200,000 pills?  Let's see, with a population of 70 million I believe that 200,000 would cover 0.00286% of the population. 

In initial trials it worked so well they immediately approved it for emergency use

[chilly07]

39 minutes ago, vandeventer said:

I also hear it has a problem destroying DNA, so I won't be the first one taking it.

That's how it works. Might also work on cancer.

[placnx]

5 hours ago, dlclark97 said:

In the U.S. the Merck pill is still undergoing testing.  It does not even have emergency use authorization yet.  The U.S. may have very high standards for this testing but once approved for EUA you can be pretty sure it is safe to use.  And, 200,000 pills?  Let's see, with a population of 70 million I believe that 200,000 would cover 0.00286% of the population. 

If the vaccination program keeps improving, hopefully the cases won't be so many by the time that molnupiravir reaches Thailand. 

[placnx]

4 hours ago, Toany said:

Be fair to Merck,  How can they make a decent profit on a product like Ivermectin that can be bought around the world for less than 2฿ a tablet.  They need a super drug.  I have seen a report that the course of 10 tablets will cost $700

 

According to WSJ, Merck is already planning with Indian producers to make this available, surely not at the US price.

[4MyEgo]

5 hours ago, dlclark97 said:

In the U.S. the Merck pill is still undergoing testing

They stopped the testing because it's efficacy was through the roof, i.e. of the placebo group 8 people died, non who took the pill, suffice to say, they had to stop the test otherwise it would could be considered immoral for those continuing to die.

 

The above said, the FDA will approve it in due course and it looks very very promising if taken in the early stages of having the virus, that said, they haven't tested it on pregnant women or people with long Covid, so could be the miracle pill we have all been waiting for, along with vaccines and natural infection, maybe this pandemic will finally be over when some of these anti-vaxers take them as well.

[Wullie Mercer]

23 hours ago, dlclark97 said:

In the U.S. the Merck pill is still undergoing testing.  It does not even have emergency use authorization yet.  The U.S. may have very high standards for this testing but once approved for EUA you can be pretty sure it is safe to use.  And, 200,000 pills?  Let's see, with a population of 70 million I believe that 200,000 would cover 0.00286% of the population. 

If your calculations are correct, the %age of fatalities due to Covid here in Thailand are miniscual, so why is the whole population and country locked down ????