Merck

The medicine, called molnupiravir, is taken twice a day for five days and works by preventing the virus from replicating. Merck says it will have 10 million packs available by the end of the month.

If the Food and Drug Administration authorizes use of the drug, called molnupiravir, it would be the first oral COVID-19 treatment that could be taken at home.

The FDA is considering new pills that could treat people in early stages of COVID. Here's what to know about how they work, how effective they are and the impact they could make on the pandemic.

"The U.K. is now the first country in the world to approve an antiviral that can be taken at home for COVID-19," Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said.

A 15-minute call with J&J executives on a Sunday afternoon stretched into a 75-minute turning point. "We have to take bold action and overwhelm this," a senior official said.

Merck traditionally has been a leader in vaccines but has not had success with a COVID-19 vaccine. It's lending a hand to Johnson & Johnson, where production is running significantly behind schedule.

Merck, which previously made an Ebola vaccine, had been seen as a serious contender in the worldwide race to come up with an answer to the coronavirus.

The pharmaceutical giant will stop delivering its rotavirus vaccine to four West African countries and will begin to sell it in China for likely more than 10 times the cost.