WHO to Buy $700 Antiviral Drugs for COVID-19 at $10 Per Course

The WHO-led Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator has planned to procure antiviral drugs for the treatment of Coronavirus patients with mild symptoms for as little as $10 per course.

The ACT accelerator is a groundbreaking collaboration between the WHO and its global partners to accelerate the global development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

According to its leaked draft document, the accelerator aims to supply 1 billion COVID-19 test kits to poor countries and procure antiviral drugs for around 120 million Coronavirus patients before October 2022.

It also plans to seek $22.8 billion worth of additional funding from G-20 and other donors. So far, donors have collectively pledged $18.5 billion to ACT Accelerator.

The Anti-COVID-19 Drug

One of the antiviral drugs the WHO-led program is aiming to procure is the oral anti-COVID-19 drug developed by Merck, a US-based pharmaceutical company.

Molnupiravir, Merck’s easy-to-administer anti-COVID-19 drug, reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by half among high-risk patients infected with mild or moderate Coronavirus infection.

While other oral anti-COVID-19 drugs are also being developed, Molnupiravir remains the only experimental drug that has shown encouraging results during late-stage clinical trials.

Merck has already started the large-scale manufacturing of Molnupiravir, a brown capsule that must be taken twice a day in its five-day course. The company aims to make 10 million courses of Molnupiravir by the end of 2021.

In June this year, the US government had signed an agreement with Merck for the supply of 1.7 million courses of Molnupiravir at a cost of $700 per course.

Actual Price is Much Lower

The WHO-led program will pay an astonishingly lower price for the procurement of Merck’s oral anti-COVID-19 drug than the US government.

Although mind-boggling, a recent study by Harvard University showed that Molnupiravir would cost $20 per course if manufactured by generic pharmaceutical firms, with the price plummeting to $7.7 per course under an optimized production.

ACT Accelerator is also reportedly in talks with Merck to strike an agreement for an abundant supply of Molnupiravir at $10 per course. Both parties are expected to reach a deal by the end of next month, with the WHO-led aiming to start distribution of the drug in Q1 of 2022.

When asked about its plans, a spokesperson for the ACT Accelerator declined to comment on the development and said that nothing has been finalized at the moment.

More About the Draft Document

Over the next 12 months, the ACT Accelerator aims to procure and supply the following in poor countries:

  • 28 million courses of antiviral drugs for the treatment of high-risk patients with mild/moderate Coronavirus infections.
  • 4.3 million courses of repurposed drugs for the treatment of critically ill Coronavirus patients.
  • Oxygen supply to cater to the needs of up to 8 million severe and critical Coronavirus patients.
  • 1 billion COVID-19 test kits to raise the testing rate from 50 tests per 100,000 people every day to 100 tests per 100,000 people every day.

Besides, the ACT Accelerator wants to vaccinate at least 70% of the entire vaccine-eligible population of all poor countries by H1 of 2022.



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