Pfizer says COVID-19 pill is 89% effective in interim assessment, if co-administered with HIV drug

• Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill, if used with an HIV drug, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% in high-risk adults exposed to the virus

• It’s the second antiviral pill followed by Merck’s drug for treating COVID-19

Pfizer Inc on Friday said its experimental COVID-19 pill cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% in high-risk adults who’ve been exposed to coronavirus.

The announcement came a day after the first antiviral oral pill, Merck & Co’s Molnupiravir, got approved by the regulators of the UK.

Pfizer said it would submit its interim analysis data of the drug’s mid and last stage trial to the U.S. Food and Drugs Administrator (FDA) as soon as possible.

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In an interview with CNBC, Albert Bourla, chief executive of Pfizer, said the company has “the capacity right now of 500 million pills,” which he said translates to 50 million treatments. “The very high efficacy comes even to us as a surprise, exceeds our most visionary expectations we had for that.”

Pfizer’s oral pill

Paxlovid, the antiviral pill, is a protease inhibitor, a type of medicine class, which works by inhibiting an enzyme the virus needs to replicate in human cells. Protease inhibitors are used to treat other viral pathogens such as HIV and Hepatitis C.

Pfizer said if co-administration with a low dose of HIV drug, it will then help slow the metabolism or breakdown of the pill for it to remain active in the body for more extended periods at higher concentrations to help combat the virus.

Analysis of Phase 2/3 study

The company said it conducted the study on 1,219 adults who had at least one underlying medical condition and a laboratory-confirmed infection within five days.

Pfizer said there were six hospitalizations and zero deaths out of the 607 trial participants who received the pill in combination with the HIV drug compared to 41 hospitalizations and 10 deaths out of the 612 people who received a placebo.

“These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate if approved by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

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The company’s shares jumped by more than 11% after the announcement.

Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics’ oral pill Molnupiravir reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by around 50% for patients with mild or moderate cases of COVID-19 when administered alone.

Picture Credit: Boston 25 News