Molnupiravir, the oral pill for COVID-19, may actually be driving the emergence of new, potentially harmful, variants of the virus, according to a Wellcome Trust-funded study at the pre-print stage. The news may come as a blow for Merck, the drug’s manufacturer, which reported massive revenues over the last year, and for the US government, which heavily subsidised the drug’s production and distribution. It will be vindication – albeit unwanted – for those who warned the drug was dangerous and should not be given emergency-use authorization by the FDA. Merck’s antiviral drug works by causing specific kinds of mutation in
