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Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) said on Wednesday the U.S. government has agreed to pay about $1.2 billion for 1.7 million courses of its experimental COVID-19 treatment, if it is proven to work in an ongoing large trial and authorized by U.S. regulators. The oral antiviral treatment, molnupiravir, aims to stop COVID-19 from progressing and can be given early in the course of the disease, similar to Tamiflu to treat influenza. (6/9)

Merck has struggled to develop therapeutics and vaccines to fight COVID-19. But the United States is betting that the pharmaceutical giant at last has a winner in its oral antiviral molnupiravir. On Wednesday Merck revealed a deal to supply 1.7 million courses of the experimental treatment to the U.S. for approximately $1.2 billion. Molnupiravir has yet to be approved, but it's shown promise for newly diagnosed, non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drug, developed in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is in phase 3 testing. With positive results, Merck expects to apply for emergency authorization later this year. (Dunleavy, 6/9)

In one of its latest steps to erase Trump administration policies, the Biden administration has withdrawn a controversial proposal that could have kicked 3 million Americans off of food stamps and cost nearly 1 million children automatic eligibility for free school meals.The proposal, issued in 2019, would have tightened the rules governing who qualifies for food stamps. It would have curtailed so-called broad-based categorical eligibility, which makes it easier for Americans with somewhat higher incomes and more savings to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the formal name for food stamps. Republicans have long argued that this expanded eligibility option is a "loophole" that permits those with higher incomes and assets to get public assistance. (Luhby, 6/8)

The Biden administration intends to revive federal environmental protections for millions of streams, marshes and other bodies of water across the country that had been eliminated by former President Donald Trump in his quest to please home builders, farmers and ranchers. The Environmental Protection Agency made the announcement Wednesday after it said it had found that the changes under Mr. Trump caused “significant environmental degradation.” (Friedman, 6/9)

The Biden administration is vaccinating some unaccompanied migrant children against the coronavirus, a top Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) official said Wednesday. JooYeun Chang, the acting assistant secretary for the HHS Administration for Children and Families, told a House panel that "hundreds" of children in Texas have been vaccinated, and the agency is working to make sure health providers have access to emergency facilities in order to vaccinate more.  (Weixel, 6/9)

When Bexar County Sheriff’s Deputy Patrick Divers pulled into the shelter for migrant children, a few staff members waited outside to greet him. They gave him the basics: There was a 16-year-old boy inside. He hadn’t wanted to go to class that day. He'd broken some stuff and was “super aggressive.” The boy had anger issues, Divers was told. “Well, obviously,” he scoffed before entering the building. As Divers was led to the boy, he didn’t ask many questions. He eventually arrived to find the child sitting in a bathroom, yelling in Spanish to the facility’s staffers. (Bogado and Morel, 6/9)