(Reuters) -Merck said on Tuesday an antibody-based drug met the main goal of a mid-to-late stage trial testing it as a therapy to protect infants from disease caused by the respiratory syncytial virus.
The drug, MK-1654, helped reduce the incidence of lower respiratory infection in infants compared to placebo, and met the safety goals of the study, Merck said.
RSV is a contagious virus that can lead to serious respiratory conditions such as pneumonia. According to the company, it causes an estimated 101,000 deaths a year worldwide in children under five.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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