UK approves Pfizer’s antiviral Covid-19 pill – Times of India

Britain has approved pfizerCOVID-19 Gun Shot For adults who have mild to moderate infections and are at high risk of worsening their disease, it is the second readily administered antiviral against the coronavirus.
Britain scrambles to build up its defenses amid a record daily record hit of new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, government data showed a jump in Covid-19 cases over the winter as the Omicron version of the virus spreads rapidly.
bullets based on data, paxlovidBritain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said on Friday that it is most effective when taken during the early stages of COVID-19, recommending use within five days of the first symptoms.
Pfizer said this month that Paxlovid has shown nearly 90% efficacy in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients, and recent lab data shows the drug may be a precursor to the rapid spread of the coronavirus. Retains its effectiveness against the variant.
The MHRA said it is working with Pfizer, which makes one of the leading COVID-19 vaccines, along with German partner BioNTech, to track the effectiveness of Paxlovid against Omicron.
MHRA chief Jun Raine said in a statement, “We now have another antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 that can be taken by mouth instead of being administered intravenously. This means it can be taken in a hospital setting.” can be administered outside.”
Paxlovid is composed of two active substances that are taken together as two separate tablets twice a day for five days. The UK has achieved over 2.75 million courses of antiviral treatment.
Pfizer tablets are part of a class of drugs called protease inhibitors that are currently used to treat HIV, hepatitis C, and other viruses, which work by stopping the virus from replicating.
Rival Merck’s Covid-19 pill was approved by Britain last month, but that drug only reduced hospitalizations and deaths by nearly 30% in a clinical trial of high-risk patients.

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