EMD Serono, the biopharmaceutical business of Merck KGaA, received clearance from U.S. FDA for its investigational new drug application (IND) for M5049 for the treatment of patients with Covid-19 pneumonia. The company will initiate a Phase II randomized trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of M5049 in this patient population. M5049 is a potentially first-in-class small molecule that blocks the activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR)7 and TLR8, two innate immune sensors that detect single-str...