If the Pfizer tablet were approved, it would be the second Covid therapy used alongside a Merck drug.
(Photo: Reuters)
Washington According to the manufacturer Pfizer, a new corona pill is very successful in preventing severe disease courses in high-risk patients. An interim analysis of test results showed that the drug called Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospital admissions and deaths in Covid-19 patients by 89 percent, Pfizer said in New York on Friday.
This applies to treatments within three days of the first Covid 19 symptoms; similar values would have resulted from treatments within five days.
Pfizer spoke of an “overwhelming effectiveness” that these results showed. The company is now planning to submit the data for an emergency approval to the FDA as soon as possible. If approved, the oral antiviral drug has the potential to “save the lives of patients, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections and avoid up to nine out of ten hospital stays”.
The British Medicines Agency MHRA approved a tablet for the treatment of Covid-19 for the first time on Thursday. The antiviral drug Lagevrio (also known as molnupiravir) is safe and effective in reducing the risk of hospital admissions and deaths in Covid patients with mild and moderate courses, a statement from the British government said.
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The drug manufactured by Merck is the world’s first approved antiviral agent for oral ingestion against Covid-19. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced at the end of October that it would examine the use of molnupiravir. The US FDA has also initiated an approval process for the product. The EMA is also examining seven other possible corona funds.
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