Prognosis
Covid Pill Sales Could Hit $2 Billion, Japan’s Shionogi Says
- World’s focus is shifting toward easy-to-take Covid pills
- Co. developed blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor
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Japanese drugmaker Shionogi & Co. Ltd. said the Covid-19 pill it’s developing could be a $2 billion drug potentially used in combination with a similar offering from Merck & Co. Inc., as the pandemic’s focus shifts to the need for easy-to-take medications able to combat mild cases.
Shionogi expects to have late-stage trial data for its pill by December and will move quickly on filing for regulatory approval in Japan, chief executive officer Isao Teshirogi told Bloomberg in an interview. The company will began manufacturing the drug this month, he said, and expects to be able to produce a million doses by early next year. It sees itself making six to seven million doses in its next fiscal year, ending March 2023.