Pfizer’s anti-COVID pill could be a promising “tipping point” in the pandemic

Pfizer presented on the eve (Friday) a pill that reduces the risk of death by almost 90% from COVID-19 for those infected with comorbidities, a promising result that its executives believe will lead to a “tipping point” in the fight against the pandemic.

The pharmaceutical company revealed in a statement preliminary data from a study with 1,219 people, which shows the effectiveness of its pill in preventing patients at high risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 – including those who are not vaccinated – need to be hospitalized or die.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, finds that patients who took the Pfizer pill along with another antiviral had an 89% reduction in their combined rate of hospitalization or subsequent death, compared to patients who took placebo. .

The company gave the volunteers the experimental drug every 12 hours for five days in different groups, starting three and five days after they had symptoms, and combined it with a low dose of the antiviral ritonavir, which is commonly used to treat the disease. HIV and acts as an enhancer.

After 28 days, no patients in the overall study who had received the Pfizer treatment had died, compared with 10 who did after receiving placebo, according to the note.

“Inflection point”

The Latin American medical director for Pfizer’s Hospital Products Unit, Rafael Valdez, stated that the study results represent a turning point if a joint strategy of vaccines, antivirals, preventive measures such as masks and case monitoring is followed. .

“Having a drug that can prevent hospitalizations and help prevent deaths is undoubtedly a very important turning point within the pandemic and allows a different projection of the impact that the disease is going to have on certain populations,” he stressed.

The “staggering effectiveness” of the preliminary data prompted independent experts to recommend that Pfizer stop searching for more participants, and it now plans to deliver the information “as soon as possible” to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review. emergency use.

The pill “blocks” the activity of a specific enzyme that the coronavirus needs to replicate in the infected body, a mechanism similar to that of the pill developed by another major pharmaceutical company, MSD (Merck in the US and Canada), although with a apparently much higher effectiveness.

The molecule that Pfizer’s pill uses, Valdez explained, was designed to treat the SARS virus in 2003 and “is expected to have an effect against all variants” of the coronavirus that may arise.

“Today’s news is truly a turning point in global efforts to curb the devastation of this pandemic,” agreed the company’s chief executive, Albert Bourla, who pointed out the drug’s potential to “eliminate nine out of ten hospitalizations.” .

Easy to administer treatments

The company’s idea is for the pill to be “widely prescribed as a home treatment to reduce the severity of illness, hospitalizations and deaths, as well as reduce the likelihood of infection following adult exposure,” according to the note. .

The announcement came a day after MSD obtained authorization in the United Kingdom for its antiviral pill, Molnupiravir, which is 50% effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths, and which has been under review by the United States regulator for some time. almost a month.

Pfizer, the world’s leading producer of vaccines that protect against COVID-19, is joining the race to obtain easy-to-administer treatments for those who are infected, a problem where speed after the onset of the disease is essential. symptoms, which are linked to viral load.

According to Valdés, the pharmaceutical company is also studying a pill for COVID-19 patients with “standard risk”, without comorbidities, and also another drug to treat people who have been in contact with a positive to see “if the chain can be cut contagion and avoid expressing symptoms “.

According to the Washington Post, Pfizer has already started manufacturing the drug and plans to produce more than 180,000 pill packs by the end of this year, rising to 21 million in the first half of 2021.