The US Food and Drug Administration is poised to authorise Covid-19 pills from Pfizer and Merck this week, tweeted a Bloomberg reporter on Tuesday. According to Pfizer, their pill reduced Covid-19 hospitalization or death by 89% if taken within 3 days of symptom onset. The Merck pill isn't quite as effective but is still thought to reduce mortality by about 50%.

Market Reaction

There hasn't been much of a market reaction to the news, though the pills are very welcome in the fight against the pandemic and, from here out, are expected to reduce US mortality rates.