Drugmakers Sign Pacts to Widen Access to Merck's Covid Pill

More than two dozen generic-drug manufacturers have agreed to produce low-cost versions of Merck & Co.’s Covid-19 pill, a key step in bringing virus-fighting tools to lower-income countries that have struggled to get vaccines. Companies in Bangladesh, China, India, Kenya, South Africa, Vietnam and other countries signed pacts to supply more than 100 low- and middle-income nations, the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool said Thursday.