Pfizer says its experimental pill reduces risk of hospitalization, death from Covid-19

[Kb27]

Pfizer says its experimental pill reduces risk of hospitalization, death from Covid-19

By Maggie Fox, and Amanda Sealy, CNN

Updated 1045 GMT (1845 HKT) November 5, 2021

(CNN)Drugmaker Pfizer said Friday its experimental pill designed to fight coronavirus reduced the risk of hospitalization and death for high-risk patients taking part in a trial of the drug.

The company hopes it can eventually offer the pill, given in combination with an older antiviral drug called ritonavir, to people to take at home before they get sick enough to go to the hospital.

A so-called interim analysis -- done before the trial was scheduled to end -- showed an 89% reduction in the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid-19 if patients got it soon enough, the company said.

Pfizer released the results in a news release and did not provide scientists to discuss the data ahead of release. The data has not been peer reviewed or published. The company says it will share more specifics in a peer-reviewed paper and with its submission to the US Food and Drug Administration.

The company has been testing the drug in adults with Covid-19 who are considered at high risk of progressing to severe illness. The volunteers have been randomly given either the pill combination or a placebo within three days or five days of their symptoms starting.

The pill, still known by its experimental name PF-07321332, is what's known as a protease inhibitor. It's designed to stop the virus from multiplying. Giving it along with ritonavir slows its breakdown in the body, the company said.

 

 

Pfizer said 0.8% of patients who got the drug combination within three days were hospitalized within four weeks -- three out of 389 patients -- compared to 7% of patients who got placebos, or 27 out of 385. And seven of those who got placebos died, Pfizer said. No one who got the treatment died within a month.

"Similar reductions in COVID-19-related hospitalization or death were observed in patients treated within five days of symptom onset; 1% of patients who received PF-07321332 (with) ritonavir were hospitalized through Day 28 following randomization (6/607 hospitalized, with no deaths), compared to 6.7% of patients who received a placebo," the company said.

It said 19% of patients given the treatment suffered adverse events, compared to 21% who got placebo, but declined to disclose what those adverse events were.

"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," Albert Bourla, chairman CEO of Pfizer, said in a statement.

Currently, remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, is the only antiviral approved by FDA for treatment of Covid-19. It's given by intravenous infusion, so it's not as simple to administer as a pill.

 

People can also be treated with monoclonal antibodies, which are injected or infused therapies that kickstart the immune system to help fight off infection. They are not as easy to take as a pill and must be administered by a trained professional.

Merck is seeking FDA emergency use authorization for molnupiravir, an antiviral capsule people could take at home. It's been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about 50%. On Thursday, UK drug regulators authorized molnupiravir under the brand name Lagevrio.

[Inlinefour]

Pfizer blue pill is the best lah 

 

 

[Kb27]

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - A trial of Pfizer's experimental antiviral pill for Covid-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89 per cent the chances of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said on Friday (Nov 5).

The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co's pill molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the likelihood of dying or being hospitalised for Covid-19 patients also at high risk of serious illness.

Full trial data is not yet available from either company.

Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results for its pill, which is given in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir, to the US Food and Drug Administration as part of the emergency use application it opened in October.

The combination treatment, which will have the brand name Paxlovid, consists of three pills given twice daily.

The planned analysis of 1,219 patients in Pfizer's study looked at hospitalisations or deaths among people diagnosed with mild to moderate Covid-19 with at least one risk factor for developing severe disease, such as obesity or older age.

 

 

It found that 0.8 per cent of those given Pfizer's drug within three days of symptom onset were hospitalised and none had died 28 days after treatment. That compared with a hospitalisation rate of 7 per cent for placebo patients. There were also seven deaths in the placebo group.

Rates were similar for patients treated within five days of symptoms - 1 per cent of the treatment group was hospitalised, compared with 6.7 per cent for the placebo group, which included 10 deaths.

Antivirals need to be given as early as possible, before an infection takes hold, in order to be most effective. Merck tested its drug within five days of symptom onset.

"We saw that we did have high efficacy, even if it was five days after a patient has been treated... people might wait a couple of days before getting a test or something, and this means that we have time to treat people and really provide a benefit from a public health perspective," Dr Annaliesa Anderson, head of the Pfizer programme, told Reuters.

The company did not detail side effects of the treatment, but said adverse events happened in about 20 per cent of both treatment and placebo patients.

"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 10 hospitalisations," Pfizer chief executive Albert Bourla said in a statement.

 

Infectious disease experts stress that preventing Covid-19 through wide use of vaccines remains the best way to control the pandemic, but only 58 per cent of Americans are fully vaccinated and access in many parts of the world is limited.

Pfizer's drug, part of a class known as protease inhibitors, is designed to block an enzyme the coronavirus needs in order to multiply.

Merck's molnupiravir has a different mechanism of action designed to introduce errors into the genetic code of the virus.

Merck has already sold millions of courses of the treatment, which was approved this week by UK regulators, to the United States, the UK and others.

Britain said earlier this month it had secured 250,000 courses of Pfizer's antiviral.

Pfizer is also studying whether its pill could be used by people without risk factors for serious Covid-19, as well as to prevent coronavirus infection in people exposed to the virus.

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/pfizer-says-antiviral-pill-cuts-risk-of-severe-covid-19-by-89

[Kb27]

Pfizer vs Merck. Which is better ?

It appears Pfizer protease inhibitor is safer.

[Thaiyotakamli]

Pfizer can save the dead, let alone the living

[Ender]

Problem is has to take it before one get severe symptoms. I.e while in mild symptom stage, the patient have to take it.  In Singapore context, mild symptom are likely to be one the home recovery scheme, which unlikely to be offer to them, hence in our scanario, it's unlikely to prevent hospitalisation. 

Only way is while in mild syptoms, those with high risk factor be given the meds. 

[Stary]

How come the pill does exactly what their vaccine does?

If like that, can those un-vax just take the pill ? 

Edited November 5, 2021 by Starry

[Tohto]

44 minutes ago, Ender said:

Problem is has to take it before one get severe symptoms. I.e while in mild symptom stage, the patient have to take it.  In Singapore context, mild symptom are likely to be one the home recovery scheme, which unlikely to be offer to them, hence in our scanario, it's unlikely to prevent hospitalisation. 

Only way is while in mild syptoms, those with high risk factor be given the meds. 

If you kana Covid wuth mild symptom and walk into a clinic, I don't think anyone can stop you.  

Then just ask for the medicine. If it is available at GP by then.

[Kb27]

The pill is good for saving lives, for those who can't or won't take the vaccine. It's another weapon in the arsenal against COVID-19.

Although the vaccine is still the number one priority.

[Ender]

6 hours ago, Starry said:

How come the pill does exactly what their vaccine does?

If like that, can those un-vax just take the pill ? 

Almost 90% similar. One is take it before you kenna, the other is kenna liao and take it while in mild symptoms stage.. Objective is similar, to prevent death and hospitalisation.

[Ender]

6 hours ago, Tohto said:

If you kana Covid wuth mild symptom and walk into a clinic, I don't think anyone can stop you.  

Then just ask for the medicine. If it is available at GP by then.

Singapore signed deal with merck, I assume is meant for the hospital rather clinic.  But ya, if can get in clinic, I would think it's a good option.

[Sosaria]

15 hours ago, Starry said:

How come the pill does exactly what their vaccine does?

If like that, can those un-vax just take the pill ? 

Think that was the objective. There is still a substantial number in the USA that choose to remain unvax. To prevent them from becoming statistics, this pill is the answer.

[inlinesix]

How does Merck's Covid-19 pill compare to Pfizer's?
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/how-does-mercks-covid-19-pill-compare-to-pfizers

“Trial figures provided by the two companies suggest that Pfizer has the more effective pill, but they have not yet offered full data.”

[Kb27]

wah...very fast sign deal, fast hand fast leg. Wonder is Sg slacking ?

 

SEOUL: South Korea has agreed to buy 70,000 courses of Pfizer's experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill,  the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday (Nov 6).

Pfizer on Friday said trial results showed that its Paxlovid reduced by 89 per cent the risk of hospitalisation or death in patients at high risk of severe illness within three days of the onset of coronavirus symptoms.

South Korea has already signed agreements to secure 200,000 courses of Merck & Co's COVID-19 treatment. It is looking to buy an additional 134,000 courses, though it is undecided of which treatment, KDCA said.

Last month, the government said it was in talks with Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG, which is developing an easy-to-administer antiviral pill for COVID-19.

The government had allocated a budget of 36.2 billion won (US$30.63 million) for oral COVID-19 antiviral pills.

Pfizer is in talks with 90 countries over supply contracts for Paxlovid, Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in an interview on Friday.

The UK has already secured 480,000 courses of Merck's drug and procured 250,000 courses of the Pfizer treatment.

[Jamesc]

If you take the vaccine you have a 95% chance of not getting Covid

If you don't take the vaccine you have a 100% chance of getting Covid.

If you got Covid you have a 50 chance of going to hospital and dying from Covid with one pill

and a 10% of going to hospital and dying from Covid with the other pill.

If you didn't get Covid you have a 100% chance of not going to hospital and dying from Covid.

Edited November 7, 2021 by Jamesc

[inlinesix]

17 hours ago, Kb27 said:

wah...very fast sign deal, fast hand fast leg. Wonder is Sg slacking ?

 

SEOUL: South Korea has agreed to buy 70,000 courses of Pfizer's experimental antiviral COVID-19 pill,  the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday (Nov 6).

Pfizer on Friday said trial results showed that its Paxlovid reduced by 89 per cent the risk of hospitalisation or death in patients at high risk of severe illness within three days of the onset of coronavirus symptoms.

South Korea has already signed agreements to secure 200,000 courses of Merck & Co's COVID-19 treatment. It is looking to buy an additional 134,000 courses, though it is undecided of which treatment, KDCA said.

Last month, the government said it was in talks with Swiss pharmaceutical Roche Holding AG, which is developing an easy-to-administer antiviral pill for COVID-19.

The government had allocated a budget of 36.2 billion won (US$30.63 million) for oral COVID-19 antiviral pills.

Pfizer is in talks with 90 countries over supply contracts for Paxlovid, Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in an interview on Friday.

The UK has already secured 480,000 courses of Merck's drug and procured 250,000 courses of the Pfizer treatment.

Singapore buys Merck PIll

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/merck-says-deal-signed-with-singapore-covid-19-antiviral-pill-2021-10-06/

 

[Jamesc]

This one is the game changer.

I will only take Moderna vaccines and I have three shots inside me already.

If I get ever Covid this Pfizer anti viral drug is the only one I want to take!

 

 

[Ender]

On 11/7/2021 at 7:18 PM, inlinesix said:

Singapore buys Merck PIll

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/merck-says-deal-signed-with-singapore-covid-19-antiviral-pill-2021-10-06/

 

Will be good if hsa also approved pfizer, so private clinic can bring for choices. But I will still go for the one no need to pay one.