The current situation with the mass release of vaccines has then given light to a new problem. After booster shots, which were said to last about half a year, were administered, this then led to the question of how the world would progress further.
While the importance of vaccination cannot be stressed enough, in the future, it would become impractical for countries to continuously administer these to their population on a regular basis. This has caused companies such as Pfizer to develop the Pfizer COVID-19 pill, an antiviral pill that fights against the COVID-19 virus.
How It Works
The Pfizer COVID-19 pill is an antiviral drug that is known to use protease inhibitors, which were initially used for treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C. Protease inhibitors would work by interfering with the virus’ enzymes, blocking a key enzyme that is needed for the virus to multiply.
Results of Trials
Pfizer has released the preliminary results of their first drug trial. The study consisted of 775 adult participants who were unvaccinated, with mild to moderate symptoms, and were considered high risk of hospitalization due to health problems.
This drug, which was taken along with another antiviral pill called ritonavir used to treat HIV, has been shown to reduce symptoms, hospitalization, and reducing death by 89% compared to patients who took a placebo. Less than 1% of patients that took the drug needed hospitalization with no deaths recorded. On the other hand, 7% of the placebo group was hospitalized and had 7 deaths. The results have also shown that 19% of participants that took the pill suffered adverse events while 21% of those that did not also suffered adverse events. The company, however, did not disclose the details of the adverse events. The results have also stressed the importance of early diagnosis of the virus, with the results showing that the medication was the most effective within three to five days of initial symptoms.
Current Situation
Pfizer Inc. has decided to stop the trials early and instead propose the emergency authorization of the drug to the United States Food and Drug Administration. The US FDA has already approved remdesivir, a different antiviral drug that treats COVID-19, as well as three antibody therapies to help the immune system fight against the virus. However, these have their own problems because they need to be taken through injection or IV, which was difficult to administer because of the lack of supplies caused by the last surge of the delta variant.
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