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Pfizer has also developed a vaccine against the coronavirus together with the German company Biontech
Photo: Mark Lennihan / AP
According to the US manufacturer Pfizer, a new corona pill is very successful in preventing severe disease progression in high-risk patients.
An interim analysis of test results showed that the drug called Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospital admissions and deaths in Covid-19 patients by 89 percent, Pfizer said in New York on Friday.
This applies to treatments within three to five days after the first Covid 19 symptoms.
Paxlovid is taken orally and has an antiviral effect.
As a protease inhibitor, it inhibits the activity of protein-splitting enzymes - in this case it specifically inhibits the multiplication of Sars-CoV-2 in the body.
According to the company, the interim analysis included data from 1219 people from different countries who are part of a phase II / III study that has been ongoing for a few weeks.
The participants had all tested positive for the coronavirus and had mild to moderate symptoms.
All of them also had at least one risk factor that is associated with a severe course of the disease.
No deaths, less hospital treatment
0.8 percent of people who were treated with paxlovid in the first three days after onset of symptoms had to be hospitalized within the next 28 days, Pfizer reports. In the group of participants who had received a placebo, it was seven percent. There were no deaths in the paxlovid group, while seven people died in the placebo group.
There were similarly good results when the patients were treated for up to five days after the onset of symptoms.
Here, one percent of the paxlovid group was hospitalized within the next 28 days and no one died.
Among the participants who received a placebo, 6.7 percent had to be treated in hospital within 28 days and ten people died.
With regard to possible side effects, Pfizer reports that these occurred almost equally frequently in the paxlovid group and the placebo group and that they were mostly mild.
Pfizer spoke of an "overwhelming effectiveness" that these results showed.
The company now plans to submit the data for an emergency approval to the FDA as soon as possible.
If approved, the oral antiviral drug has the potential to "save the lives of patients, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections and avoid up to nine out of ten hospital stays," said Pfizer boss Albert Bourla in the communication quoted.
more on the subject
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The British Medicines Agency MHRA approved a tablet for the treatment of Covid-19 for the first time on Thursday.
The antiviral drug Lagevrio - also known as molnupiravir - is safe and effective in reducing the risk of hospital admissions and deaths in Covid patients with mild and moderate courses, a statement from the British government said.
It is the world's first approved antiviral for oral ingestion against Covid-19.
The drug comes from Pfizer's US competitor Merck & Co.
The European Medicines Agency Ema announced at the end of October that it would examine the use of molnupiravir.
The US FDA has also initiated an approval process for the product.
Ema is also examining seven other possible corona funds.
mar / dpa