Pfizer announces very positive first results for its anti-Covid pill

Pfizer announced on Friday the first very positive results of its anti-Covid pill against severe forms of the disease, the second treatment of this type to demonstrate high efficacy after that of Merck.

In adults at high risk of developing a severe form of the disease, Pfizer tablets have been shown to be 89% effective in preventing the risk of hospitalization or death, according to interim results from clinical trials.

The company, which already markets one of the main vaccines against Covid-19, said it intends to provide these results “as soon as possible” to the United States Medicines Agency (FDA) for a request. authorization.

Pfizer boss Albert Bourla then told CNN that he hoped the filing could take place “before Thanksgiving,” on November 25.

The treatment developed by Merck, another American laboratory, was authorized Thursday in a first country, in the United Kingdom, and is being studied in the United States and in Europe.

Antivirals work by reducing the ability of a virus to replicate, thereby slowing down the disease. Easy to administer because they can be taken at home, these treatments represent a complement to vaccines to protect against Covid-19.

“We have already reserved millions of doses,” US President Joe Biden said in a Friday address. The treatment would constitute “another tool in our toolbox to protect the population from the worst outcomes of Covid,” he said.

Pfizer’s initial results are based on clinical trials on just over 1,200 adults who have contracted Covid-19 and who are at risk of developing a severe case of the disease.

Within a few days of symptom onset, some received the Pfizer pill and others received a placebo. They received one or the other for five days, once every 12 hours.

“The interim analysis showed an 89% reduction in the risk of Covid-19-related hospitalization and death from any cause, compared to placebo, in patients treated within three days of onset. symptoms, “Pfizer detailed in a statement.

“Similar” results were seen in patients treated within five days of symptom onset. A total of 10 people died among the patients who received the placebo, compared with zero deaths in the group that received the treatment.

– “Overwhelming efficiency” –

The trial will include a total of 3,000 people but recruitments have now been halted “in the face of the overwhelming effectiveness” of the treatment in the first results, said Pfizer.

“Today’s announcement is a real game-changer in our global efforts to stop the devastation caused by this pandemic,” said Albert Bourla, quoted in the press release.

“These data suggest that our candidate antiviral treatment, if approved by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patient lives, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections and prevent up to nine out of ten hospitalizations,” a- he added.

Pfizer’s treatment will be marketed under the name Paxlovid.

Two other clinical trials are currently being carried out by the company. The first is to assess the effectiveness of the pill in a population not at increased risk of developing a severe case of the disease.

The second tests the ability of the treatment to preventively reduce the risk of infection in those around a person who has contracted the disease.

Aside from Merck and Pfizer, Roche is also working to develop a similar tablet.

Unlike its competitors, Pfizer’s treatment was not re-adapted from another drug, but developed specifically against SARS-CoV-2. However, it is given in combination with a “low dose” of the drug ritonavir, used against the AIDS virus.

la / vgr