Merck

The drugmaker is seeking to halt the program, which was laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act and is expected to save taxpayers billions of dollars in the coming years.

The drugmakers said a combination of the vaccine and Merck’s immunotherapy Keytruda led to a statistically significant improvement in survival before the cancer returned in patients with advanced melanoma.

Federal health authorities recommend a pneumococcal vaccine for children 2 and under, adults over 64, and people of all ages with certain medical conditions.

Drug manufacturers invested in Russia’s pharmaceutical industry contend international humanitarian law requires they continue manufacturing and selling their products there, even while condemning the Ukraine invasion.

The medicine, called molnupiravir, is taken twice a day for five days and works by preventing the virus from replicating. Merck says it will have 10 million packs available by the end of the month.

If the Food and Drug Administration authorizes use of the drug, called molnupiravir, it would be the first oral COVID-19 treatment that could be taken at home.

Pfizer asked the FDA to authorize emergency use of the experimental pill, which has been shown to significantly cut the rate of hospitalizations and deaths among people with coronavirus infections.

Based on the strength of the trial's results, Pfizer says it will ask the FDA for emergency use authorization rather than enroll more people for clinical trials.

The drug, known as molnupiravir, has shown promise in treating the disease. The agreement to license its production could help millions of people in the developing world gain access to it.

If approved for use, the pills would add an easy-to-use weapon to the arsenal against the coronavirus pandemic.