On May 26, MSD announced three significant scientific initiatives to combat COVID–19. These include two agreements to develop potential vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, and a research collaboration to advance the development of a novel antiviral candidate, detailed below:
- MSD to acquire Themis Bioscience, a company focused on vaccines and immune-modulation therapies for infectious diseases, including COVID-19;
- MSD and IAVI collaborate to develop vaccine against COVID-19;
- MSD and Ridgeback Bio collaborate to advance development of an oral antiviral candidate for COVID-19, EIDD-2801.
Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MSD (tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA (NYSE: MRK)), said: “Though the challenge of this pandemic is immense, we know that science and collaboration will triumph, just as they have before. While we cannot predict when this battle will be won, we are confident that science is on our side, that collaboration is already well underway, and that together, we will prevail.”
In addition to this, MSD makes a range of medicines and vaccines for infectious diseases, but none of them are approved for use to treat COVID-19. We have enormous experience in inventing antivirals and vaccines and like many other pharmaceutical companies, are actively engaged in scientific efforts to help find solutions to coronavirus disease. This pandemic underscores the need for our company and our industry to continue to invest in research for the greatest health threats.
As part of this, MSD is studying potential antiviral therapies that could be deployed more rapidly, in addition to evaluating compounds in our own laboratories.
To support this focus, globally MSD is studying potential antiviral therapies that could be deployed more rapidly, in addition to evaluating compounds in our own laboratories.
We have also identified programmes in other laboratories that could prove beneficial, and have announced that we are participating in a new research collaboration with the Institute for Systems Biology in the US, to investigate and define the molecular mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19, and identify targets for medicines and vaccines.
Additionally, we have also announced we are in collaboration with the NIH-led Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV consortium). ACTIV is a partnership that aims to develop a collaborative framework for prioritising vaccine and drug candidates, streamlining clinical trials and regulatory processes, and/or leveraging assets among all partners, to rapidly respond to the COVID-19 and future pandemics.