Merck exec discussing use of COVID antiviral drug in Ebola response

Merck is in discussions with various global health authorities about making its COVID antiviral pill molnupiravir available as an Ebola treatment to address the widening outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a senior executive told Reuters.



The outbreak, which has so far infected a suspected 1,100 people and resulted in 42 deaths, involves a rare strain of the virus called Bundibugyo for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.



"Molnupiravir is a non-specific RNA virus drug. We're thinking about how we could use that,” Eliav Barr, chief medical officer at Merck Research Laboratories, said in an interview at the American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago on Sunday.



"We're talking a lot with different parties about this,” Barr said.



The pill, developed by the New Jersey-based drugmaker along with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and sold under the brand Lagevrio, was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration during the pandemic for mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in adults at high risk for severe disease.