Merck manufactures its anticoagulant tablet in Canada – world

Merck said in a statement that it had entered into an agreement with Canadian company Thermo Fisher Scientific to manufacture Molnupravir, which is not yet approved for use in any country in the world – at a manufacturing facility in the Canadian city of VTP.

Tablets manufactured by VTP will be prescribed to Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union (EU), Asia and Latin America, when their use is approved by national authorities.

Merck said the tablet, which will be developed in conjunction with Ridgeback Biotechnics, will be manufactured at only three facilities worldwide.

On December 3, Canada announced that it had reached an agreement with Merck to purchase 500,000 molenupravir treatments by 2022, with the option of purchasing another 500,000.

Doug Ford, Prime Minister of Ontario, the Canadian province where the Whitby plant is located, said the agreement guarantees Canada access to a key drug to combat COVID-19.

The Canadian government was criticized early in the epidemic for lack of domestic vaccine production, which caused severe supply problems for injections from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca in the first months of the immunization campaign.

In this regard, the Canadian Minister of Innovation, Francois-Philippe Champagne, said the agreement between Merck and Thermo Fisher Scientific would “ensure the domestic drug supply chain” and “ensure that Canada is better prepared for future health emergencies”. ”

Last week, Merck explained that its pill reduces the risk of death and hospitalization by 30%, down one percentage point from the 50% previously reported, but by experts from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The United States decided last Tuesday that the results are positive for now and that its urgent use should be recognized.

In addition, the company said it should be equally effective in principle against any new variant of the virus on the same day.