Countries rush to purchase experimental antiviral COVID-19 pills

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week authorised Merck's antiviral COVID-19 pill for high-risk adult patients, a day after giving a broader go-ahead to a similar but more effective treatment from Pfizer, Reuters reports,

In the last week, Japan and India have also recommended approval of Merck's experimental pill, which has already been approved in Britain, Denmark and the Philippines, among others, while South Korea on Monday authorised Pfizer's treatment for emergency use.

Merck has signed deals to sell about nine million courses of its treatment to governments around the world, but on Dec 22 France became the first country to publicly say it had cancelled its order following disappointing trial data. It hopes instead to receive Pfizer's drug before the end of January.

In the European Union, both treatments are under review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), though the regulator has said they can be used in adults ahead of any wider recommendation.

 

Merck pill
COUNTRY	VOLUME	PRICE	TIMING OF  SOURCE                                DELIVERY
Australia	300,000 doses
Belgium	10,000 doses
Canada	500,000 courses
Indonesia	600,000 - 1 million doses		December 2021
Italy	50,000 courses
Japan	1.6 million courses	1.2 billion
Malaysia	150,000 courses
Philippines	300,000 courses	100-150 pesos ($1.97-$2.96) per pill	November 2021
South Korea	200,000 courses
Switzerland	8,640 doses		Jan 2022               "at the latest"
Thailand	200,000 courses
UK	2,230,000 courses		Early 2022
United States	3,100,000 courses	$700 per course, total of $2.2 billion
EU
Germany