The Covid 19 drug Paxlovid, which is already being used in Austria, has been given the green light by the World Health Organization (WHO). Paxlovid is recommended for patients who are not yet seriously ill but have the highest risk of hospitalization, the responsible WHO expert council reported in the specialist journal “British Medical Journal” (BMJ). This includes people with previous illnesses, the elderly or those who have not been vaccinated.
The Council referred to studies with almost 3,100 patients. The risk of hospital admission was 85 percent lower in those treated with Paxlovid than in the group who received a dummy drug, the WHO writes in a statement.
The tablets from the US pharmaceutical company Pfizer are intended to inhibit the multiplication of the virus in the body. They contain the active ingredients nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. The drug has been conditionally approved in the EU since the end of January.
The drug is not an alternative to vaccination, emphasized WHO expert Janet Diaz. Vaccination is the most important way to prevent serious illness and reduce the risk of infection. Even mild infections could lead to long-term health problems.
The WHO is concerned that, as with the corona vaccines, rich countries will secure most of the production and that poorer countries will initially not have enough available. Pfizer aims to produce tablets for 120 million patients this year. The company promised the UN children’s charity UNICEF the delivery of tablets for four million patients. The WHO called on Pfizer to be more transparent about production, bilateral contracts and prices.
According to the WHO, Paxlovid must be taken within five days of the onset of symptoms. Whether it is still effective in seriously ill patients is not clear from previous studies. The WHO does not recommend the drug for patients with a low risk of a severe course of the disease because it does not bring any advantages for them. Paxlovid also interacts with other medications. Therefore, the intake must be discussed with doctors in any case.
With this recommendation, the drug is included in a WHO list of tested drugs. For many countries that, unlike the EU or the USA, do not have their own regulatory authority for medicinal products, this is the basis for approval without further major clarifications.
In addition to Paxlovid, other agents are already being used to protect against severe courses in the early phase of the Sars-CoV-2 infection. However, they usually have to be administered as an infusion.
Source: Nachrichten
