Pfizer Anti-Viral Pill Shows Surprising Results During Preliminary Study
Pfizer announced Friday that preliminary results from a study on its experimental oral antiviral pill ritonavir showed a nearly 90% decrease in hospitalization and death in high-risk adults with COVID-19.
Pfizer Says COVID-19 pill cut hospital death risk by 90%
The company said it will be seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the pill in the very near future. At this time there are no oral antiviral treatments that have been approved by the FDA to treat COVID-19.
Merck & Co. currently has a COVID-19 pill under review by the FDA, it was approved by health regulators in the U.K. on Thursday. Merck’s pill, Molnupiravir, has been shown to have reduced the rate of hospitalization and death among unvaccinated COVID-19 patients with at least one high-risk factor in half during clinical trials.
In a study of 775 participants, patients who took the Pfizer pill had an 89% decrease in hospitalizations or death over the period of one month compared to patients who took a placebo. There was a hospitalization rate of less than one percent and no deaths in the Pfizer group, versus a hospitalization rate of seven percent and seven deaths in the control group.
The FDA is set to hold a public meeting on Merck’s pill later this month.