Pfizer Develops Oral Antiviral Pill to Aid Treatment of COVID-19
Suggested to be 89% effective.
Pfizer develops a new pill called PAXLOVID™ to help treat coronavirus. The drug is meant to reduce death or risk of hospitalization by 89% in high-risk adults, according to an interim analysis of Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR study released on Friday.
The EPIC-HR study, which stands for Evaluation of Protease Inhibition for COVID-19 in High-Risk Patients, features a “randomized, double-blind study of non-hospitalized adult patients with COVID-19, who are at high risk of progressing to severe illness,” a press release by Pfizer stated. This comes just one day after Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) approved a similar treatment in the U.K.
The Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR study, which began enrollment in July, is making efforts to ease the process for consumers.
“Today’s news is a real game-changer in the global efforts to halt the devastation of this pandemic,” said Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer. “These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved or authorized by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations. Given the continued global impact of COVID-19, we have remained laser-focused on the science and fulfilling our responsibility to help healthcare systems and institutions around the world while ensuring equitable and broad access to people everywhere.”
