Pharmaceutical giant Merck (NYSE:MRK) said it plans to acquire privately held OncoImmune for $425 million in cash, gaining rights to an under-the-radar drug that has shown striking results in hospitalized patients with Covid-19.
The medicine, CD24Fc, was shown in a late-stage clinical study in September to reduce the risk of respiratory failure or death by more than 50% in patients hospitalized with Covid-19 and requiring oxygen, Merck said Monday.
The drug was given as an intravenous infusion in addition to standard-of-care, which could include remdesivir and dexamethasone, and was compared to standard-of-care alone. The data, in 203 patients, also showed that patients receiving CD24Fc had a 60% higher probability of seeing improved clinical status.
"The results are remarkable," Merck’s research chief, Dr. Roger Perlmutter, said in a telephone interview.
With cases of Covid averaging almost 170,000 a day in the U.S. and a record number of people in the hospital with the disease, a drug that could significantly speed recovery and reduce the risk of death or of patients getting so severely ill they require ventilators could make a major difference in the pandemic.
But there’s a problem: supply.
"We realized that this small little company was in no position to make CD24Fc to try and treat all of the people who could potentially benefit from this drug," Perlmutter said. "We decided that the only way, seriously, that this could be brought to people who need it is for us to lean in with our capabilities."
MRK galloped 39 cents to $80.84.
