Merck’s little brown pill could transform the fight against COVID

Will a capsule be the next pandemic breakthrough? Molnupiravir, a tablet originally developed to tackle herpes, has been redirected to coronavirus with promising results. In this informative run-through of anti-viral history, Cynthia Koons and Riley Griffin contemplate the challenges faced by Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck Group to get the drug into clinical trials which, if successful, could give doctors an important new weapon against coronaviruses and future pandemics.