What we know about Pfizer’s ‘first of its kind’ Covid-19 antiviral pill What we know about Pfizer’s ‘first of its kind’ Covid-19 antiviral pill

PFIZER’S experimental Covid-19 pill was found to significantly reduce the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89%, in high-risk adults who have been exposed to the virus. The company announced at the weekend that, based on an interim analysis of Phase two and three clinical trials, the pill could be prescribed as an at-home treatment to help reduce illness severity, hospitalisations, and deaths. The drug, Paxlovid, is taken orally as soon as the first symptoms of Covid-19 appear, to avoid serious forms of the illness or hospitalisation. “If approved or authorised, Paxlovid, which originated in Pfizer’s laboratories, would be the first oral antiviral of its kind, a specifically designed Sars-CoV-2-3CL protease inhibitor,” said the company in a press release.