Merck has reached an agreement that will let other drug makers produce its COVID-19 pill, though many countries are excluded from the pact. Merck and the United Nations-backed Medicines Patent Pool announced the agreement, saying it would help broaden access to the treatment in 105 low- and middle-income countries. The pool will be allowed to license non-exclusive sublicenses to manufacturers to make the pill, known as molnupiravir. Merck, which has a tradename of MSD, and its partners, Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Emory University, won’t receive royalties for the sales of the pill in the selected countries as long as the World Health Organization keeps classifying COVID-19 as a public health emergency. The “transparent, public-health driven agreement” is the first of its kind reached for any COVID-19 treatments or vaccines, Charles Gore, the pool’s executive director, said in a statement. The public health group hopes it will encourage other companies to hammer …