Pfizer said a preliminary look at study results show that its experimental COVID-19 pill was highly effective at preventing hospitalization or death in high-risk people.
The pill, called Paxlovid, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by about 89 percent if they took it within three days of diagnosis, Pfizer said Friday, per the Wall Street Journal. It was also found to be generally safe and well-tolerated.
Pfizer plans to ask the FDA for authorization this month, and doses could be available this year.
“It’s stunning data,” Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said. “I feel very optimistic on a day like this. For everyone living in this pandemic, a new light of hope has turned on.”
If authorized, there could be two COVID-19 pills on the market before the end of the year. As previously reported by Human Events News, Merck & Co. and its Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP filed an application requesting FDA authorization for its COVID-19 pill, a huge step toward lessening the blow of symptoms.
Their pill, called molnupiravir, was found to cut the risk of hospitalization or death by about 50 percent.
Pfizer’s drug was shown to be active against variants, including the highly contagious Delta, in laboratory testing. The company plans to share in the future how the drug fared against variants in the study, a spokeswoman said.
