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Pfizer, Merck test oral COVID-19 therapeutics; Oral vaccine on the way?

Sep. 02, 2021 5:57 AM ETMRK, MRNA...By: Yoel Minkoff, SA News Editor

(I am completely pissed off RDHL not included )
#msg-165741013 (although I am invested in ORMP too)

Oral drugs that combat COVID-19 are garnering interest from drugmakers and countries alike, as the coronavirus battle moves beyond jabs and syringes. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Merck (NYSE:MRK) have both announced the start of trials to test oral antiviral medications that target the disease. The race to develop an easy-to-administer treatment comes amid growing interest in the market for coronavirus therapeutics as the threat of COVID-19 sticks around for the foreseeable future.

Pfizer's latest mid-to-late-stage trial will enroll 1,140 non-hospitalized adults diagnosed with coronavirus infection who are not at risk of severe illness. They'll be given Pfizer's pill, known as PF-07321332, as well as a low dose of ritonavir, which is widely used in combination with HIV treatments.

Merck's trial will study experimental drug molnupiravir for the prevention of COVID-19 among adults who live in the same household as a person with a symptomatic coronavirus infection.

Over in Israel: The country announced in July that it would be the first in the world to test an oral COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oramed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ORMP). The first trial will involve 24 unvaccinated volunteers, each taking one or two pills, before moving on to larger Phase 3 trials if successful. The vaccine should be "much more resistant to Covid-19 variants," according to Oramed CEO Nadav Kidron, since it trains the immune system against three viral proteins instead of the single protein targeted by Pfizer and Moderna's (NASDAQ:MRNA) shots.