With Merck’s COVID Antiviral Announcement, Can the Pharma Pipeline Build Treatment Momentum?

 

At the start of the month, pharmaceutical company Merck dropped big news: It has developed a COVID antiviral drug that would cut hospitalization and mortality risks by 50%. In the drug’s study, patients taking the placebo pill saw 14% hospitalization rate and eight deaths, while the trial group with Merck’s drug had only 7% hospitalized and zero deaths.

This appears to be just the tip of the iceberg; Kaiser Health News reports at least three COVID antiviral candidates, including Merck’s, going through late-stage clinical trials, meaning a variety of COVID drugs could be on patient’s prescriptions here soon. What’ll be some of the positive domino effects to come from approval of COVID antivirals, not only on the pharmaceutical production pipeline, but on the general population’s health? Ira Leiderman, managing director of the healthcare practice at Cassel Salpeter & Co., gave MarketScale his take on the coming treatments.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

Salesforce
Salesforce Works Best When Informed Judgment Comes First
January 31, 2026

Salesforce can be a powerful growth platform, but its complexity can put inexperienced organizations at a disadvantage. Without strong in-house expertise, leaders may struggle to assess recommendations, push back on unnecessary scope, or determine whether proposed solutions truly support business outcomes. Over time, this can lead to overbuilt systems, excess cost, and decisions driven…

Read More
customer advocacy
How CG Infinity’s Focus on Customer Advocacy Drives Better Delivery Outcomes
January 31, 2026

Strong delivery starts with advocacy—making sure customer priorities are clearly represented, consistently elevated, and never lost as work moves forward. At CG Infinity, that advocacy shows up through proactive thinking, idea-sharing, and a commitment to pushing for better outcomes at every stage of an engagement. Customer voices remain front and center, shaping decisions and guiding…

Read More
partnership
CG Infinity’s Salesforce Practice Excels When Partnership Drives Outcomes
January 31, 2026

Meaningful work often comes from shared success, where customer outcomes and team outcomes are closely connected. At CG Infinity, this mindset shapes how client relationships are approached—not as transactions, but as partnerships built on collaboration, trust, and mutual accountability. The focus goes beyond delivering a solution to working side by side with customers, exchanging ideas,…

Read More
CG Infinity
CG Infinity’s Salesforce Practice: Built for Adoption, Execution, and Results
January 31, 2026

Pooja Arya, VP of Delivery and Technical Solutions Leader at CG Infinity, reflects on a recent Salesforce engagement that exemplified what meaningful delivery looks like when execution, alignment, and outcomes come together. The project involved a full Salesforce implementation spanning Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Marketing Cloud, and was delivered on time despite significant technical…

Read More