In a major setback US pharma giant Merck has announced that it will stop making its COVID-19 vaccines after failed clinical trials to generate a strong immune response.
US pharma giant Merck has scrapped two coronavirus vaccine candidates after they failed to produce an adequate immune response in early trials, the company announced Monday.
The results were "disappointing, and a bit of a surprise," Nick Kartsonis, senior vice president of clinical research for infectious diseases and vaccines at Merck Research Laboratories, told Bloomberg.
The studies haven't yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal to be scrutinized.
Merck said it would now focus on advancing two experimental treatments for COVID-19 that are in late stage development.
"In the world of pharmaceutical development, a quick kill is not a bad thing because it allows you to reposition and repurpose your assets," Kartsonis told the Wall Street Journal.
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