Pfizer says its antiviral COVID-19 pill 89% effective

Pfizer says its antiviral COVID-19 pill 89% effective
Friday 5 November 2021 - 16:16

Pfizer announced that its anti-COVID-19 pill has shown 89% efficiency in preventing the risk of hospitalization or death, according to the first results of clinical trials.

In a press release published this Friday, Pfizer said the first interim trial results have shown that its antiviral pill reduces the risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death by 89%.

“Just stunning results,” Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said in a Twitter post of Pfizer’s results. “Implications of effective therapeutics for ending the pandemic are very, very large.”

The treatment developed by the American laboratory seems to be more effective than Merck’s Molnupiravir pill, which reduces by about 50% the probability of hospitalization or death in patients at high risk of developing the disease, according to interim trial results released last month.

Following Pfizer’s announcement, its shares surged 11% to USD48.55, while Merck’s Molnupiravir fell by 8.5% to USD84.55.

Pfizer said it planned to send interim trial data to the US health agency, the FDA, as part of an emergency use application it opened in October.

Most recently, Merck’s Molnupiravir’s anti-COVID-19 antiviral pill has been approved in the UK, after it proved efficient and safe use recognized by scientific experts as well as the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Molnupiravir’s drugmaker Merck said its Molnupiravir antiviral pill is effective against all variants of the COVID-19 virus, including the new strain of the Delta variant.

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