VOA慢速英语2021 默沙东公司向贫困国家开放其新冠口服药专利（在线收听）

American drug-maker Merck has agreed to let some companies produce its experimental COVID-19 pill.

美国制药商默沙东公司已经同意允许一些公司生产其实验性的新冠肺炎治疗药片。

The move, announced Wednesday by a health organization supported by the United Nations, is aimed at helping people in poorer countries to get the drug.

一家联合国支持的卫生组织周二宣布了这一举措，它旨在帮助贫困国家人民获得这种药物。

The Medicines Patent Pool, or MPP, said in a joint statement that the agreement will make the drug molnupiravir available "in 105 low- and middle-income countries." The drug also will need approval from local health officials.

药物专利池组织在一份联合声明中表示，该协议将使莫努匹韦在105个中低收入国家可用。这种药物还需要获得当地卫生官员的批准。

Under the agreement, the health agency is permitted to license qualified companies to manufacture the antiviral drug. Merck and its partners, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Emory University in Georgia, will not receive money for sales of molnupiravir as long as the World Health Organization considers COVID-19 a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern."

根据该协议，该卫生机构获准授权合格公司生产这种抗病毒药物。只要世卫组织将新冠肺炎视为“国际关注的突发公共卫生事件”，默沙东公司及其合作伙伴Ridgeback Biotherapeutics以及乔治亚州的埃默里大学就不会收到莫努匹韦的销售款项。

Pill awaiting approval

药片待批

In early October, Merck reported that its experimental pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths by half among people infected with COVID-19 in a drug trial. The company is asking health officials in the United States and around the world to approve the pill for treatment of coronavirus infections.

默沙东公司今年10月初报告称，其实验性药片在一项药物试验中使得新冠肺炎感染者的住院率和死亡人数减少了一半。该公司正要求美国和世界各地的卫生官员批准这种用于治疗新冠肺炎感染的药片。

Pfizer and Roche, two other drug companies, are also working on similar COVID-19 pills. But molnupiravir could be the first pill approved for the treatment of COVID-19. A pill can be taken at home and is easier to send around the world. All other approved COVID-19 treatments must be injected by healthcare workers.

另外两家制药公司辉瑞和罗氏也在研究类似的新冠肺炎治疗药片。但是莫努匹韦可能是第一种获批用于治疗新冠肺炎的药片。药片可以在家中自行服用，并且更容易送到世界各地。其它所有获批的新冠肺炎疗法都需要医护人员注射。

Charles Gore is the Executive Director of MPP. He said early results of the drug were "compelling." Gore said the pill is an "important tool" to help deal with the current health crisis. He said he hoped the agreement will lead to others.

查尔斯·戈尔是药物专利池组织的执行董事。他说这种药品的早期结果令人信服。戈尔表示，这种药片是帮助应对当前健康危机的重要工具。他说，他希望该协议能够引领其它制药商（做出同样选择）。

The non-profit group Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, welcomed the agreement to share Merck's COVID-19 pill. But it said the license "doesn't go far enough."

非营利组织无国界医生对分享默沙东公司新冠肺炎治疗药片的协议表示欢迎。但是该组织表示，这种许可还远远不够。

Yuanqiong Hu is a senior legal and policy adviser with MSF. She said the license does not include nearly half of the world's population in countries like Brazil and China. The two also have "strong, established capacity to produce and supply antiviral medicines."

胡元琼是无国界医生组织的高级法律和政策顾问。她说，这种许可不包含巴西和中国等国家中的近一半世界人口。这两个国家还拥有生产和供应抗病毒药物的强大和既定能力。

Hu noted the license would also limit "the production and supply of more affordable and available generic molnupiravir."

胡元琼指出，该许可还会限制更实惠和更可用的莫努匹韦仿制药的生产和供应。

Cheaper generic version

更廉价的仿制药

Merck said earlier that it could produce 10 million treatments of the pill this year. The treatment requires two pills a day for five days. The U.S. has already purchased 1.7 million treatments at the cost of $700 each.

默沙东公司早些时候称其今年可以生产1000万个疗程的药物。一个疗程需要每天服用两片并持续5天。美国已经以每个疗程700美元的价格购买了170万个疗程。

The company is also working with several Indian companies to license cheaper, generic versions of molnupiravir for low- and middle-income countries. Researchers at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health estimated that a generic version could cost less than $20 for each treatment.

该公司还与几家印度公司合作，为中低收入国家许可更便宜的莫努匹韦仿制药。哈佛大学陈曾熙公共卫生学院的研究人员估计，仿制药每个疗程的成本可能不到20美元。

Last week, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it would spend up to $120 million to help develop generic versions of molnupiravir.

上周，比尔和梅琳达·盖茨基金会宣布将斥资高达1.2 亿美元帮助开发莫努匹韦的仿制药。

"To end this pandemic, we need to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live in the world, has access to life-saving health products," said Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, in a statement.

盖茨基金会联合主席梅琳达·弗兰奇·盖茨在一份声明中表示：“为了结束这次疫情大流行，我们需要确保每个人，无论他们生活在世界何处，都能获得救命药。”