Merck COVID-19 pill success slams Moderna shares, shakes up health care sector
Positive clinical trial results for Merck & Co's experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill reverberated through the health care sector on Friday, sending the drugmaker's stock price soaring while denting high-flying shares of vaccine companies and makers of other coronavirus therapies.
Inside the race for a COVID-19 treatment pill
Pfizer and its rivals, including U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc and Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG are racing to produce the first antiviral pill that people could take at early signs of the illness. Their shared goal: filling a key treatment hole by helping people recently-infected with coronavirus to avoid becoming seriously ill and needing hospitalization.