Merck (NYSE:MRK) on Monday said it will end development of its two COVID-19 vaccines, and will focus pandemic research on treatments, with initial efficacy data on an experimental oral antiviral expected by the end of March.
Merck said in a statement it will record a pretax discontinuation charge in the fourth quarter for vaccine candidate V591, which it acquired with the purchase of Austrian vaccine maker Themis Bioscience, and V590, developed with nonprofit research organization IAVI.
In early trials, both vaccines generated immune responses that were inferior to those seen in people who had recovered from COVID-19 as well as those reported for other such vaccines, the company said.
Merck was late to join the race to develop a vaccine to protect against the coronavirus, which has so far killed more than two million people and continues to surge in many parts of the world including the United States.
U.S. regulators in December authorized Covid-19 vaccines from Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) and partners Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NASDAQ:BNTX), and tens of millions of doses of both have so far been administered globally. Rivals Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) , AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) and others are also racing to develop safe and effective vaccines to protect against the virus.
Merck said it will focus COVID-19 research and manufacturing efforts on two investigational medicines: MK-7110 and MK-4482, which it now calls molnupiravir.
MRK shares gave back 61 cents to $80.37.
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