Merck halts Russia investment, keeps key supplies

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2 年前

STORY: Merck and Co says it has halted investment in Russia, but will keep supplying life-saving medicines and vaccines.

It joins a growing list of drugmakers to stop investments or scale back business there.

That includes Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novartis and Abbvie.

Western firms are under huge pressure to pull out of Russia, but the medical sector has been a partial exemption.

Medicines and medical devices are considered necessary for humanitarian reasons, and are excluded from sanctions.

Now Merck says it will deliver 135,000 courses of its anti-COVID pill to Ukraine as agreed.

A spokesperson said the firm did not have any research or production facilities in Russia.