New Pfizer pill works against COVID-19, trial shows hospitalisation not needed in 89% cases

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A trial of Pfizer Inc's experimental antiviral pill COVID-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the US pharma giant announced on Friday.</p>
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Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla called the drug a potential “game-changer” in a statement.</p>
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“These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalisations,” he said.</p>
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The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co Inc's pill, molnupiravir, which halve the likelihood of dying or being hospitalised for COVID-19 patients also at high risk of serious illness.</p>
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The combination treatment, which will have the brand name Paxlovid, consists of three pills given twice daily.</p>
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The planned analysis of 1,219 patients in Pfizer's study looked at hospitalisations or deaths among people diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 with at least one risk factor for developing severe disease, such as obesity or older age.</p>
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Pfizer said it was currently expecting to produce more than 180,000 packs by the end of 2021 and at least 50 million packs by the end of 2022.</p>
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"We are currently bringing on additional capacity and ramping up further and we look forward to updating these numbers in the coming weeks," the company said.</p>
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Infectious disease experts stress that preventing COVID-19 through wide use of vaccines remains the best way to control the pandemic, but only 58% of Americans are fully vaccinated and access in many parts of the world is limited.</p>
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Pfizer's drug, part of a class known as protease inhibitors, is designed to block an enzyme the coronavirus needs in order to multiply.</p>
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Merck's molnupiravir has a different mechanism of action designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the coronavirus. Britain became the first country on Thursday to approve Merck’s medicine.</p>