Pharmaceutical company Merck and Florida-based Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced Friday that they plan to seek emergency approval for an oral antiviral treatment for COVID-19. If authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the drug, molnupiravir, could be the first oral antiviral treatment for patients with COVID-19. Merck said it planned to seek emergency use authorization in the U.S. as soon as possible and added that it will also be submitting applications for the drug to "regulatory agencies worldwide." The companies said that during a phase 3 trial, molnupiravir "significantly reduced the risk of hospitalization or death" in at-risk patients with...