Pfizer (PFE) Surges 8%, Merck (MRK) Down 5% Following Pfizer's COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatment Data

Merck (MRK) and Ridgeback Announce Additional Purchase of 1.4M Courses of Molnupiravir by the US Government

November 9, 2021 6:04 AM EST

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics today announced that the United States government will exercise two of its options to purchase a total of 1.4 million additional courses of molnupiravir, an investigational oral antiviral medicine, if the medicine is granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for approximately $1 billion. With these exercised options, the U.S. government has now committed to purchase a total of approximately 3.1 million courses of molnupiravir, for approximately $2.2 billion, between authorization and... More

Merck (MRK) Acquisition of Acceleron Pharma Cleared by Antitrust Authorities in Germany and Austria

November 8, 2021 4:32 PM EST

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that its pending acquisition of Acceleron Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: XLRN) has been cleared by the competition authorities in Germany and Austria.

As previously announced on October 12, 2021, Merck commenced, through a subsidiary, a cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Acceleron, for $180 in cash, without interest and less any required tax withholding. The receipt of antitrust clearance from the competition authorities in Germany and Austria satisfies one of the... More

Merck (MRK) ahead of Pfizer (PFE) in EU talks on COVID-19 pills -EU source - Reuters

November 8, 2021 11:15 AM EST

Merck (NYSE: MRK) ahead of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) in EU talks on COVID-19 pills -EU source - Reuters

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Pfizer's (PFE) COVID Pill Best in Class, Will Put Pressure on Merck (MRK) and Regeneron (REGN) - Analyst

November 5, 2021 8:47 AM EDT

(Updated - November 5, 2021 8:54 AM EDT)

Earlier today, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced its investigational novel COVID-19 oral antiviral candidate, PAXLOVID, significantly reduced hospitalization and death, based on an interim analysis of the Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR study of non-hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19,... More

Mizuho Defends Merck (MRK) on Weakness Related to Pfizer's Antiviral Drug

November 5, 2021 8:32 AM EDT

Mizuho Securities analyst Mara Goldstein defended Merck (NYSE: MRK) following positive news on Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) oral COVID-19 antiviral drug PAXLOVID.

The analyst commented, "Taken together, we see the weakness in MRK's shares outsize relative to the... More

Airlines, Reopening Stocks Surge Following Data From Pfizer (PFE) Antiviral Covid Pill

November 5, 2021 7:25 AM EDT

Airlines, Reopening Stocks Surge Following Data From Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) Antiviral Covid Pill

American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL) +4..8%United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) +3.8%Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) +4.9%Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) +3.9%Carnival Corp. (NYSE: CCL) +4.7%Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) +4.8%Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) +5.8%
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Pfizer's (PFE) COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatment Candidate Reduced Risk of Hospitalization or Death by 89% in Interim Analysis of Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR Study

November 5, 2021 6:45 AM EDT

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) today announced its investigational... More