Pfizer said Tuesday that clinical trials confirmed its Covid pill, a new type of antiviral treatment that should withstand the mutations seen with Omicron, drastically reduced hospitalizations and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 percent.
The announcement came as a real-world study from South Africa showed two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 70 percent effective in stopping severe illness from the new variant, a result called encouraging by researchers, though it represents a drop compared to earlier strains.
The American drugmaker said its treatment, called Paxlovid, withstood the Omicron variant in lab-testing.
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The trial showed that the pill reduced the need for hospitalization in high-risk adults with Covid-19 by 89 percent if the treatment was given within three days of symptom onset and by 88 percent if given within 5 days, according to the company.
Side-effects were found at comparable rates between the treatment and placebo groups (23 percent and 24 percent, respectively), and were mostly mild.
– New type of drug –
Nirmatrelvir is known as a “protease inhibitor” and works by blocking the action of an enzyme the coronavirus needs to replicate. Ritonavir is administered to slow down the breakdown of nirmatrelvir inside the body, increasing its efficacy.
Another Covid pill, Merck’s molnupiravir, has already been authorized in Britain and is pending authorization in the United States.
Pfizer said it had shared its pill data with the US Food and Drug Administration as part of its submission for an emergency use authorization.
The news comes as the heavily-mutated Omicron variant continues spreading fast around the world, raising alarms about surges in severe cases and deaths.
Many high-income countries have stepped up their campaigns to get people booster shots in order to restore vaccine efficacy.
“The double dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (shows) 70 percent effectiveness in reducing risk of hospitalization,” said Ryan Noach, the head of South Africa’s leading private health insurance company Discovery, which co-led the study.
The study was based on the results of 78,000 PCR tests taken in South Africa between November 15 and December 7 and was conducted by Discovery along with the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
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