PFIZER SAYS ITS COVID PILL NEAR 90% EFFECTIVE IN CLINICAL TRIALS

Tue 14 December 2021:

The final analysis of Pfizer Inc’s antiviral COVID-19 pill showed close to 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, with recent lab data suggesting the drug retains its effectiveness against the fast-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

The remarks by the US drugmaker came on the heels of the company’s announcement last month that the oral medicine was about 89 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations or deaths when compared to placebo, based on preliminary results in about 1,200 people.

An additional 1,000 people were included in the data released on Tuesday.

The Pfizer treatment resulted in no deaths in the trial, whereas the placebo resulted in 12 deaths.

The Pfizer pills are taken every 12 hours with the older antiviral ritonavir for five days, beginning shortly after the onset of symptoms.

If approved, the treatment will be marketed under the brand name Paxlovid.

Pfizer also released preliminary data from a second clinical trial, which showed that the treatment reduced hospitalizations by roughly 70% in 600 standard-risk adults.

“It’s a stunning outcome,” Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said in an interview.

“We’re talking about a staggering number of lives saved and hospitalisations prevented. If you deploy this quickly after infection, we are likely to reduce transmission dramatically,” Dolsten added.

In the United States, no oral antiviral treatments for COVID-9 are currently approved.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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