Free Republic

Biden spends over $2.4 billion on Merck wonder drug so good it deserves a 4,000% markup =========================================================================== Yesterday the pharmaceutical giant Merck asked the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorization for its new pill, Malnupiravir, that can treat COVID-19 for the eye watering price of $712, and Joe Biden already bought 1.7 million. The drug costs Merck $17.74 to produce. “Merck said it is asking for authorization for the capsules to treat infected adults who are at risk of progressing to severe Covid-19 disease or hospitalization,” reported CNN. A drug trial for Malnupiravir was reportedly ended early...

At the start of the pandemic, researchers began testing existing antivirals in people hospitalized with severe Covid-19. But many of those trials failed to show any benefit from the antivirals. In hindsight, the choice to work in hospitals was a mistake. Scientists now know that the best time to try to block the coronavirus is in the first few days of the disease, when the virus is replicating rapidly and the immune system has not yet mounted a defense. In a trial of hospitalized patients, however, molnupiravir seemed to have no effect on the disease. In April, the companies announced...