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Merck says its COVID-19 drug should be effective against any variant – Metro US

Merck says its COVID-19 drug should be effective against any variant

FILE PHOTO: A handout photo of an experimental COVID-19 treatment
FILE PHOTO: A handout photo of an experimental COVID-19 treatment pill, called molnupiravir and being developed by Merck & Co Inc and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP

(Reuters) – Merck & Co Inc’s experimental COVID-19 drug molnupiravir should have similar activity against any new coronavirus variant, a company executive said on Tuesday.

The drug, developed along with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, shows antiviral properties against coronavirus variants such as the Delta variant, Daria Hazuda, vice president of Merck’s infectious diseases and vaccines division, said.

Hazuda’s comments were part of a general presentation and not specific to the Omicron coronavirus variant.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)