Merck and Pfizer both announced the start of trials to test oral antiviral medications targeting Covid-19 on Wednesday, highlighting a growing interest in the market for therapeutics for the coronavirus.

Pfizer ‘s (ticker: PFE) trial is a Phase 2/3 study of an oral antiviral known as PF-07321332 in symptomatic adult Covid-19 patients who aren’t hospitalized and aren’t at risk of progressing to severe illness. The trial is in addition to one the company began in July, testing the same drug in nonhospitalized patients who are at risk of progressing to severe illness.

Merck (MRK), meanwhile, along with its partner the private company Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, announced the start of a Phase 3 trial of its oral antiviral molnupiravir as a post-exposure prophylaxis for patients who live in the same household as a person with symptomatic Covid-19.

The wave of Covid-19 therapeutic trials comes amid a growing consensus that the virus that causes Covid-19 isn’t going away, and that the disease will continue to pose some level of threat for the foreseeable future. That could create a substantial market for Covid-19 therapeutics, which have so far received little attention in comparison to the vaccines.

(more at Barron’s September 1, 2021)

Cue the Big Pharma derp. And all of this could have been avoided at the beginning.

Merck and Pfizer Are Testing Antiviral Pills. The Covid Battle Is Moving Beyond Vaccines.