Pfizer Anti-Viral Pill Cuts COVID-19 Risk By 89%

A trial of Pfizer's experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 was stopped early after the drug was shown to cut by 89 percent the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe disease, the company said on Friday, Reuters reported.

Photo Insert: At the get-go, results from the Pfizer antiviral pill for COVID-19 appear to surpass Merck's molnupiravir.

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

Full trial data are not yet available from either company. Pfizer shares surged 13 percent to $49.47, while those of Merck fell 6 percent to $84.69.

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 (FDA) as part of the emergency use application it opened in October, the Singapore-based Channel News Asia (CNA) also reported.

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 hospitalizations or deaths among people diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 with at least one risk factor for developing severe diseases, such as obesity or older age.

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

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