Merck is shutting down the programs linked to its two COVID-19 vaccine candidates following early trial data indicating that they failed to generate immune responses comparable to a natural infection or existing vaccines. One of its candidates against COVID-19 was called V590; it built on Merck’s Ebola inoculation platform, while the other one, V591, was based on a measles vaccine used in Europe. Merck, known as MSD outside of the US and Canada, will record a pretax charge in Q4, 2021 as a result of halting the programs related to V591, which it acquired with the purchase of Austrian vaccine maker, Themis Bioscience, and V590, developed with nonprofit research organization, IAVI.