Pfizer antiviral pill reduced risk of covid hospitalization and death by 89 percent in high-risk people, company study shows

An experimental coronavirus pill reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 89 percent in high-risk people infected with the virus, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer announced Friday.

The effect of the drug, a five-day regimen designed to block the virus from making copies of itself, was found to be so strong midway through the study that an independent committee monitoring the clinical trial recommended it be stopped early. The data has not yet been published or peer-reviewed, but Pfizer said in a news release that it would submit the data to regulators “as soon as possible.”

Easy-to-deliver antiviral pills that blunt infections could be a powerful addition to the medical tool kit to manage the pandemic and equip the world for a future in which the coronavirus continues to circulate. Such treatments would augment the medical armamentarium, not replace highly protective vaccines, similar to how people receive flu shots but may be prescribed Tamiflu if they do fall ill.

 
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Πηγή: washingtonpost.com