Race for Merck Pill Raises Fears of Vaccine-Like Inequality
- Wealthier countries already lining up for promising treatment
- Drugmaker plans to significantly boost production capacity
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Moves by several countries to buy supplies of Merck & Co.’s promising Covid pill before it’s even approved are raising concerns that some poorer nations could be left behind, in a repeat of the slow and inequitable rollout of vaccines.
Merck has taken steps to ensure countries around the world can get its drug, including licensing its experimental medication to generic-drug firms and planning production increases. Yet in a worrisome echo of the global vaccine situation, some wealthy and middle-income nations like Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand have followed the U.S. and already secured molnupiravir or started talks to obtain it.