Pfizer will not profit from a pill against covid-19 in 95 countries 2:11
(CNN Spanish) -
Antiviral pills against covid-19 aim to be the next big trend in the covid-19 pandemic.
Although they cannot be considered a cure, and they also do not work as antibiotics do against bacterial infections, doctors say that antiviral pills against COVID-19 can be important adjuncts to hospital treatments, such as monoclonal antibodies, intravenous antiviral remdesivir and modulators of the immune system.
Two of the antiviral pills that are in the spotlight are those from Merck / Ridgeback Biotherapeutics (molnupiravir) and Pfizer (paxlovid).
The molnupiravir pill is known to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 by 50%, the companies Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics reported in a statement published Oct. 1.
Likewise, molnupiravir became the first antiviral pill in the world to receive authorization for the treatment of COVID-19.
The country that gave its approval, after studying it and considering it "safe and effective", was the United Kingdom, where the drug is named after Lagevrio.
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As for the Pfizer antiviral pill, what do we know so far?
The information is more recent in this case, and here we present the most important points.
Pfizer antiviral pill
Pfizer, which has already developed a vaccine against covid-19 together with BioNTech, began in March of this year clinical trials of phase 1 of an antiviral pill to combat covid-19.
Since then, the goal has been to develop a pill capable of treating the disease at an early stage to reduce its risk and avoid hospitalization.
Back then, Pfizer mentioned that it expected the pill, known by the experimental name PF-07321332, to be approved by the end of 2021.
The pill made its way through clinical trials.
And it was until last November 5 that the company announced that its experimental pill reduced the risk of hospitalization and death for high-risk patients participating in a trial of the drug.
In an interim analysis, conducted before trial completion was scheduled, the PF-07321332 pill showed an 89% reduction in the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid-19 if patients received it soon enough (specifically, between the first three to five days after the onset of symptoms).
According to Pfizer, the pill is given in combination with an older antiviral drug called ritonavir, and is to be taken at home before people get sick enough to go to the hospital.
How long before?
In the aforementioned period of three to five days after the appearance of covid-19 symptoms.
November 16 was a relevant day for Pfizer's pill for two things: 1) the company requested its emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA);
and 2) the company announced that it has signed a license agreement to allow wider global access to its experimental covid-19 pill.
In relation to the former, Pfizer met the goal of submitting the information to regulators before Thanksgiving, and remains in place with the March goal for the pill to receive authorization by the end of the year.
If authorized, the experimental pill PF-07321332 would be sold under the name paxlovid.
As for the point on global access to the pill, Pfizer's deal was with the Medicines Patent Pool, a public health organization backed by the United Nations.
With it, generic manufacturers would be allowed to make the pill widely available in 95 low- and middle-income countries covering 53% of the world's population.
The latest on the matter is that the US government plans to buy 10 million doses of the antiviral pill from Pfizer, according to a source familiar with the plans, who also assured that the contract for the acquisition was being finalized.
With information from CNN's Amanda Sealy, Maggie Fox, Paul LeBlanc and Kaitlan Collins.
Covid-19 Pfizer Pill
