Pfizer, a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology business based in the United States, stated that its experimental COVID-19 antiviral can reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in vulnerable adults by 89 percent. On Friday, the business released the preliminary results of the clinical trials.
The treatment, which will be sold under the brand name Paxlovid, was proven to be highly effective in preventing serious illness in vulnerable adults who were given it throughout the research. It's a three-pill combination treatment that's taken twice a day.
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The antiviral drug is the second of its sort to be approved for use against Covid.This new antiviral medicine provides better protection than one developed by Merck, another American pharmaceutical company, which is pending approval in the United States but was approved yesterday in the United Kingdom.
The pharmaceutical firm halted the study shortly after the efficacy of the antiviral medicine was proven in the clinical trial.The trial's monitoring board was so convinced, they claimed, that the trial was suspended in its early stages.
The business has not yet released the entire results of the experiment, but they intend to submit the data to the US Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible in order to obtain approval for the pill's use.
After being diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 and having at least one factor that can contribute to severe infection, such as obesity or old age, Pfizer looked at 1,219 people who were at risk of hospitalisation or death.
According to the study, just 0.8 percent of those who were given Pfizer's antiviral drug within three days of the onset of COVID symptoms were hospitalised, and none died within 28 days of treatment.
They compared the results to a 7% hospitalization rate for placebo patients, which resulted in seven deaths.
According to the company's statement, based on the study's initial trial, antivirals should be provided as soon as feasible to limit the risk of problems. To be most successful, the medicine must stop the virus from inflicting serious damage before an infection takes hold, which takes three days.
"We saw that we had excellent efficacy, even if it was five days after a patient was treated... folks might wait a few of days before having a test or something, and this indicates that we have time to treat them and actually deliver a public health benefit." Until now, the business has remained tight-lipped about the antiviral drug's negative effects. They merely stated that negative consequences occur 20% of the time.
"These findings suggest that, if approved by regulatory authorities, our oral antiviral candidate could save patients' lives, lessen the severity of COVID-19 infections, and prevent up to nine out of ten hospitalizations," said Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.
By the end of 2021, Pfizer intends to have produced over 180,000 packs, with at least 50 million by the end of 2022.
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