Merck Surges as Covid Pill Looks to Ease Hospital Strains

Merck & Co. shares posted their biggest gain in five years after the company’s experimental pill slashed the risk of getting seriously ill or dying from Covid-19 in a study, findings that could eventually yield a simple way to treat many virus patients before they ever reach the hospital. The drug, known as molnupiravir, reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 50% in an interim analysis of a late-stage clinical trial, Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP said in a statement on Friday. The study results were so encouraging that Merck and closely held Ridgeback, in consultation with independent trial monitors and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, elected to stop enrolling patients and begin the process of gaining regulatory clearance.