'820,000 Won per Set' COVID-19 Treatment Drug Raises 'Binikbin' Concerns

Oral COVID-19 treatment Molnupiravir released by the American pharmaceutical company Merck & Company.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Concerns have been raised that COVID-19 treatments, like vaccines, may be excluded from distribution in underdeveloped countries.

On the 16th (local time), CNN reported that several countries have entered a purchasing competition over Molnupiravir, an oral COVID-19 treatment developed by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Merck & Co., which has applied for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), highlighting these concerns.

Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug, is expected to play a crucial role as a "game changer" in the response to COVID-19.

However, concerns have emerged that low-income countries may fall behind in securing Molnupiravir due to its high price.

The United States has agreed to spend $1.2 billion (approximately 1.4 trillion KRW) to purchase 1.7 million treatment courses if Molnupiravir is approved. This amounts to a price of $700 (about 820,000 KRW) per course.

CNN cited experts' cost analyses pointing out that the production cost of Molnupiravir is only $18 (about 20,000 KRW) per course.

Researcher Zunitar Godam, who analyzed the costs, said, "It is common for pharmaceutical companies to add significant profits to drugs during development, but in this case, since the U.S. funded the drug development, the high price is even more surprising."

Merck, the developer of Molnupiravir, announced in June through an official letter that it plans to use differential pricing by country and has entered into licensing agreements for generic production for 104 middle-income countries.

In this regard, Rina Mengani, head of the South Asia Access to Medicines Campaign at Doctors Without Borders, expressed concerns that Merck can control patents, pricing, and supply.

Rachel Cohen, North America director at the nonprofit International Foundation for Infectious Diseases, said, "Molnupiravir truly has the potential to change the game," but emphasized, "However, we must not repeat history. We should not make the same mistakes we saw with COVID-19 vaccines."

Already, 10 countries worldwide have signed or are negotiating contracts to purchase Molnupiravir. Among them, eight are Asian countries including Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.

CNN analyzed that Asian countries, which were relatively late in introducing vaccines, are rushing to secure oral treatments to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.