SHANGHAI, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Merck & Co said on Wednesday it would take legal action against some pharmaceutical companies after noticing that some manufacturers were supplying COVID-19 drugs to some provinces and cities saying the medicines were authorized by Merck.

It did not name the companies.

China's Sinopharm is the only legally authorized distributor of Merck's COVID-19 antiviral molnupiravir in China, it said in a post on its official WeChat account in China.

It added it had started talks with Sinopharm on the drug's production technology licence so that Sinopharm can produce and supply the drug in China. (Reporting by Brenda Goh Editing by Mark Potter)