London: A Trial of pfizer Inc.’s experimental antiviral pill COVID-19 The company said Friday it was stopping early after the drug was shown to reduce the chance of hospitalization or death by 89% for adults at risk of developing serious illness.
The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co. Inc.’s pill molnupiravir, which was shown last month to reduce the chances of death or hospitalization of Covid-19 patients who are at high risk of serious illness. were also at risk.
Full test data is not yet available from either company.
Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results for its pill, in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir, to the US Food and Drug Administration as part of an emergency use application it opened in October. are given.
Combination treatment, the brand name of which will be paxlovid, are three tablets to be given twice a day.
Pfizer’s planned analysis of 1,219 patients in the study looked at hospitalization or death among people diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 with at least one risk factor for developing serious disease, such as obesity or older age.
It found that 0.8% of those given Pfizer’s drug within three days of the onset of symptoms were hospitalized and none died after 28 days of treatment. This is compared to a 7% hospitalization rate for placebo patients. There were also seven deaths in the placebo group.
Rates were similar for patients treated within five days of symptoms – 1% of the treatment group were hospitalized, compared to 6.7% for the placebo group, which included 10 deaths.
To be most effective, antivirals should be given as soon as possible, before infection occurs. Merck tested its drug within five days of symptom onset.
“We saw that we had high efficacy, even if it was five days after treating a patient, people can wait a few days before having a trial or something, and that means we have a lot more to treat people. And it’s time to actually provide benefits from a public health standpoint,” Pfizer program head Annalisa Anderson told Reuters.
The company did not elaborate on the side effects of the treatment, but said that adverse events occurred in about 20% of both the treatment and the placebo patients.
Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said: “These data show that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved by regulatory authorities, can save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and reduce the risk of infection in nine out of ten.” There is the potential to eliminate hospitals.” said in a statement.
Infectious disease experts insist that preventing COVID-19 through widespread use of vaccines is the best way to control the pandemic, but only 58% of Americans are fully vaccinated and in many parts of the world Access is limited.
Pfizer’s drug, part of a class known as protease inhibitors, is designed to block an enzyme coronavirus multiplication is required.
Merck’s molnupiravir has a different mechanism of action designed to introduce errors in the virus’s genetic code. Merck has already sold millions of courses of the treatment, which was approved this week by UK regulators in the United States, the UK and others.
Britain said earlier this month it had acquired 250,000 courses of Pfizer’s antivirals.
Pfizer is also studying whether its pill can be used to prevent coronavirus infection in people with risk factors for severe COVID-19, as well as people exposed to the virus.
The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co. Inc.’s pill molnupiravir, which was shown last month to reduce the chances of death or hospitalization of Covid-19 patients who are at high risk of serious illness. were also at risk.
Full test data is not yet available from either company.
Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results for its pill, in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir, to the US Food and Drug Administration as part of an emergency use application it opened in October. are given.
Combination treatment, the brand name of which will be paxlovid, are three tablets to be given twice a day.
Pfizer’s planned analysis of 1,219 patients in the study looked at hospitalization or death among people diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 with at least one risk factor for developing serious disease, such as obesity or older age.
It found that 0.8% of those given Pfizer’s drug within three days of the onset of symptoms were hospitalized and none died after 28 days of treatment. This is compared to a 7% hospitalization rate for placebo patients. There were also seven deaths in the placebo group.
Rates were similar for patients treated within five days of symptoms – 1% of the treatment group were hospitalized, compared to 6.7% for the placebo group, which included 10 deaths.
To be most effective, antivirals should be given as soon as possible, before infection occurs. Merck tested its drug within five days of symptom onset.
“We saw that we had high efficacy, even if it was five days after treating a patient, people can wait a few days before having a trial or something, and that means we have a lot more to treat people. And it’s time to actually provide benefits from a public health standpoint,” Pfizer program head Annalisa Anderson told Reuters.
The company did not elaborate on the side effects of the treatment, but said that adverse events occurred in about 20% of both the treatment and the placebo patients.
Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said: “These data show that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved by regulatory authorities, can save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and reduce the risk of infection in nine out of ten.” There is the potential to eliminate hospitals.” said in a statement.
Infectious disease experts insist that preventing COVID-19 through widespread use of vaccines is the best way to control the pandemic, but only 58% of Americans are fully vaccinated and in many parts of the world Access is limited.
Pfizer’s drug, part of a class known as protease inhibitors, is designed to block an enzyme coronavirus multiplication is required.
Merck’s molnupiravir has a different mechanism of action designed to introduce errors in the virus’s genetic code. Merck has already sold millions of courses of the treatment, which was approved this week by UK regulators in the United States, the UK and others.
Britain said earlier this month it had acquired 250,000 courses of Pfizer’s antivirals.
Pfizer is also studying whether its pill can be used to prevent coronavirus infection in people with risk factors for severe COVID-19, as well as people exposed to the virus.
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