Merck Canada to expand manufacturing for COVID-19 drug at Ontario facility

Merck Canada of Kirkland, QC, announced it has entered into an agreement with Thermo Fisher Scientific to manufacture molnupiravir, Merck’s investigational oral antiviral medicine for the treatment of COVID-19. This agreement is part of global pharmaceutical giant’s commitment to make this investigational medicine widely available globally, if approved for use by regulatory agencies.

Molnupiravir is being developed by Merck in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics of Miami.

Thermo Fisher’s manufacturing site in Whitby, Ontario, will manufacture molnupiravir for distribution in Canada and the UK as well as markets in the EU, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, pending local market approvals. It is one of three manufacturing sites in the world for this therapy.

Merck also announced on December 3, 2021, that it has entered into a supply agreement with the Government of Canada for molnupiravir. Through this agreement, the Government of Canada has secured access to 500,000 patient courses, with options for up to 500,000 more in 2022.

Marwan Akar, Marwan Akar, president and managing director of Merck Canada.

“We are honoured to be partnering with the federal and provincial governments in support of our country’s preparedness against COVID-19. We can learn from this experience and apply the same determination to grow the life sciences sector more broadly, to help fight the world’shealth challenges,” said Marwan Akar, president and managing director of Merck Canada.

“Thermo Fisher is proud to join Merck’s global manufacturing network to provide support for the production of its investigational oral treatment for COVID-19,” said Michelle Logan, VP, Drug Product North America, Thermo Fisher Scientific.