Merck & Co Inc has signed nine deals to sell more than about 3 million courses in total of its experimental COVID-19 pill molnupiravir to governments around the world as nations scramble to tame the pandemic.

Merck's COVID-19 treatment is, however, not the only one in the game. On Friday, the company's US peer Pfizer Inc halted early a trial of its antiviral drug after it proved to cut the risk of severe COVID-19 by 89%, outdoing the results seen with Merck's product.

Britain approves Merck's Covid-19 pill in world first

Pfizer said it expects to submit interim trial results for its pill to US Food and Drug Administration before the US Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 25.

The United States has secured "millions of pill doses" of Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment pill, President Joe Biden said on Friday.

While Merck's drug approval in the United States is also still pending, Britain has become the first country in the world to approve the pill. The UK has already secured 480,000 courses of Merck's drug and procured 250,000 courses of Pfizer's.