During Merck's (MRK 0.26%) second-quarter earnings call on Friday, the company's head of research and development discussed progress on a potential new treatment for COVID-19 patients. The antiviral candidate MK-4482 is a nucleoside analog that makes it hard for SARS-CoV-2 to replicate itself in the laboratory and is being developed in partnership with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
Following encouraging results from an ascending dose study, Merck thinks MK-4482 is well-tolerated at levels that should be more than enough to stop SARS-CoV-2 in its tracks. Based on preliminary results from three mid-stage studies, Roger Perlmutter, president of Merck Research Laboratories, believes the company will begin a pair of large pivotal trials in September.
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Merck is also in discussion with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) about a large outpatient study to be conducted under the institute's supervision.
In a laboratory setting, MK-4882 has shown an ability to combat viruses that have acquired mutations, rendering them resistant to the only antiviral treatment currently available for COVID-19 patients, remdesivir from Gilead Sciences (GILD 0.54%). And Merck's coronavirus antiviral candidate could have another leg up on Gilead's treatment. Remdesivir is delivered as an intravenous infusion, while MK-4482 is an easy-to-swallow tablet.
Merck is moving pretty quickly with MK-4882, but it's still far behind an injectable antiviral treatment candidate for COVID-19 from Regeneron (REGN 3.69%). The dual-antibody cocktail called REGN-COV2 has already entered pivotal studies with COVID-19 patients in partnership with NIAID.
Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect that the drug MK-4882 is being developed in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
