Merck remains in the market spotlight. Last Friday the group together with partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced the interim phase 3 data of the drug Molnupiravir, an antiviral that reduced the risk of hospitalization by 50% in the analyzed sample of 775 adult patients with moderate forms of Covid-19. The companies have asked the FDA for approval of the new drug and other international agencies. Equita analysts recall how the US government has bought 1.7 million doses at $ 700 for now and production of the drug is expected in 2021 at 10 million doses. “We see antiviral therapy not so much as an alternative but rather as an integration of vaccines and therefore we do not estimate a reduction in the potential market of the latter even if it is possible that the adoption rate will drop”, report the experts of the Milanese sim.