Merck leaps into COVID-19 development fray with vaccine, drug deals

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc , which has largely kept to the sidelines of the race for COVID-19 treatments, said it was buying Austrian vaccine maker Themis Bioscience and would collaborate with research nonprofit IAVI to develop two separate vaccines.It also announced a partnership with privately-held Ridgeback Biotherapeutics to develop an experimental oral antiviral drug against COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.It did not disclose the terms of..