-Pfizer Inc's experimental antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 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, offering what could be a promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic.
Shares in Pfizer, which also makes one of the mostly widely used COVID-19 vaccines, were up 9% to $47.82, while Merck's were down 9.3% to $82.09. Shares of vaccine makers took a hit, with Moderna Inc, Pfizer's German partner BioNTech SE and Novavax all down 13-21%. "Vaccines are going to be the most effective and reliable tool that we have in this pandemic," said Dr. Grace Lee, professor of pediatrics at 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.
The company said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of this year and at least 50 million courses by the end of next year, including 21 million in the first half of 2022. Among those given Pfizer's drug within three days of symptom onset, the pill lowered the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of developing severe COVID-19 by 89% compared to patients who received a placebo. Among these patients, 0.8% were hospitalized and none died by 28 days after treatment, compared to a 7% hospitalization rate and seven deaths in the placebo group.
An FDA panel of outside experts is scheduled to meet Nov. 30 to discuss Merck's pill, which was approved by British regulators https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/britain-approves-mercks-oral-covid-19-pill-2021-11-04 in a world first on Thursday. Pfizer said it did not know if Paxlovid would be reviewed at that meeting.
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