Good News, COVID-19 Drug, Paxlovid From Pfizer Claimed To Cut Risk Up To 89 Percent

COVID-19 medicine (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Pfizer claims an experimental antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 developed cuts by 89 percent the risk of hospitalization or death in adult patients. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla promised a "new weapon" to fight the pandemic would be available globally as soon as possible.

Test results show Pfizer's drug efficacy exceeds that of Merck & Co's Molnupiravir, which is claimed to halve the chances of dying or being hospitalized in high-risk patients.

The Pfizer pill, called Paxlovid, is expected to get clearance from US regulators by the end of the year. Pfizer said it would submit an interim report of test results to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before November 25.

The test was terminated early thanks to the high success rate.

President Joe Biden said the US government had ordered millions of doses of Pfizer's drug. "If the FDA is approved, we will soon have a pill to treat the virus in those who are infected", Biden said.

"That therapy will be a new tool in our toolbox to protect society from the worst effects of COVID".

Shares of Pfizer, the company that also produces the best-selling COVID-19 vaccine, rose 11 percent before closing at 48.61 dollars (IDR 696,088), while Merck shares fell 10 percent to 81.61 dollars.

The Pfizer pill is given in combination with the antiviral pill ritonavir, three times a day each. The therapy has been in development for nearly two years.

COVID-19 pills like Pfizer and Merck are eagerly awaited because the options available are currently so limited. Complete test data from the two companies are not yet available.

Pfizer is negotiating with 90 countries to supply Paxlovid, Bourla said. "Our goal is everyone in the world can get it as quickly as possible", he said.

For rich countries, said Bourla, Pfizer hopes to be able to price its drugs close to Merck's drug prices. Merck's US contract sets the price for Molnupiravir at around $700 per five-day therapy.

As for low-middle-income countries, Bourla said, Pfizer will offer several options so that "there is no barrier for them to get it too".

Merck's pill has been approved by UK regulators and is the world's first COVID-19 drug to be approved.

Even with the potential that Pfizer and Merck's pills offer, preventing COVID-19 infection through vaccines at large remains the best way to control the pandemic.

"A vaccine will be the most effective and reliable tool we have during a pandemic", said Dr. Grace Lee, professor of pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Pharmacy.

"Oral medications like these will increase our ability to reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death, majorly but not prevent infection".

Although more than seven billion doses of the vaccine have been administered worldwide, it covers only about half of the world's population. Mizuho analyst Vamil Divan estimates Pfizer's drug has "very little impact" on those who refuse to be vaccinated or injected with booster doses.

"I think there are very few people who don't want to be vaccinated because there are good treatment options", Divan said.

Pfizer plans to produce 180,000 packages of Paxlovid treatment by the end of the year and a minimum of 50 million packages by the end of next year.

The company did not go into detail about the side effects of Paxlovid but said co-occurrence occurred in about 20 percent of the patients it tested. Possible side effects of COVID-19 drugs include nausea and diarrhea