Pfizer says antiviral pill cuts risk of severe COVID-19 by 89%

Pfizer says antiviral pill cuts risk of severe COVID-19 by 89%
# 05 November 2021 19:07 (UTC +04:00)

A trial of Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89% the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said on Friday, APA reports citing Reuters.

The results appear to surpass those seen with Merck & Co Inc's (MRK.N) pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the likelihood of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients also at high risk of serious illness. read more

Full trial data is not yet available from either company.

"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."

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

"Vaccines are going to be the most effective and reliable tool that we have in this pandemic," said Dr. Grace Lee, Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University School of Medicine. "These oral medications are going to augment our ability to really reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death, which is huge, but it won't prevent infection."

Shares in Pfizer, which also makes one of the mostly widely used COVID-19 vaccines, were up 7.6% to $47.19 at 1445 GMT, while Merck's were down 8.5% to $82.83. Shares of other vaccine makers also took a hit, with Moderna Inc (MRNA.O), Pfizer's German partner BioNTech SE and Novavax (NVAX.O) all down 10-18%.

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