As the company announced on Monday, the antiviral drug lowers the risk of hospitalization or death in high-risk patients by 89 percent. This applies if treatment was started within three days of the onset of symptoms of the disease.
If the treatment started within five days of the onset of symptoms, the protection was 88 percent. The evaluation of the data from the clinical study with 2246 adults confirm the preliminary results on the effectiveness of paxlovid, which Pfizer presented in early November.
The group has now also stated that the drug should also be effective with the Omikron variant of the coronavirus. In-vitro tests indicated this.
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said the drug could “save the lives of patients around the world”. Treatment with paxlovid could become an important “tool” in the fight against the pandemic, also in view of the spread of virus variants.
The pharmaceutical company, which together with the German company Biontech already manufactures one of the most widely used corona vaccines, has submitted an application to the US FDA for emergency approval for the drug. The EU Medicines Agency (EMA) is also testing paxlovid.
The drug reduces the ability of the coronavirus to multiply in the body’s cells and thus slows down the further development of the Covid-19 disease. The new active ingredient is combined with the drug ritonavir, which is already used to treat HIV patients.
The US pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) has also developed molnupiravir, an antiviral drug against the coronavirus. According to the company, its effectiveness is only 30 percent.
Source: Nachrichten
