To grow, the coronavirus requires an enzyme that Pfizer’s medication inhibits.
Pfizer’s experimental antiviral pill for the COVID-19 study was discontinued early on Friday after it was discovered to reduce the likelihood of hospitalisation or death by 89 percent in people at risk of developing severe disease.
Molnupiravir, a Merck and Co., Inc. tablet, has been shown to cut the risk of death or hospitalisation in COVID-19 patients who are also at high risk of serious illness in half.
Neither company has made the full findings of the studies public.
To put it another way, Pfizer’s stock increased 13% to $49.47, while Merck’s fell 6%.
Pfizer expects to submit interim trial findings for its pill, which is used in conjunction with an older ritonavir antiviral, to the FDA as part of the emergency use application it filed in October.
Only 0.8 percent of people treated with Pfizer’s medicine were hospitalised within three days of their first symptoms, and no one died as a result of their treatment within the first 28 days. In comparison, 7% of placebo patients were admitted to the hospital. Seven people died among the placebo group.
Within five days of the onset of their symptoms, 1% of patients in the treatment group and 6.7 percent of patients in the placebo group were hospitalised, with ten deaths.
Antivirals must be administered as soon as possible after an infection has begun in order to be effective. Merck tested its medication within five days of the onset of symptoms.
“We saw that we did have high efficacy, even if it was five days after a patient was treated… people might wait a couple of days before getting a test or something, and this means that we have time to treat people and really provide a benefit from a public health standpoint,” Pfizer programme head Annaliesa Anderson told Reuters.
When asked about the drug’s side effects, the company stated that approximately 20% of patients who received the treatment or a placebo experienced an adverse event.
According to our findings, our oral antiviral candidate has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate nine out of ten hospitalizations, implying that regulatory authorities should approve it.
According to Pfizer, over 180,000 packets will be produced by the end of 2024, and at least 50 million packs will be produced by the end of 2024.
“We are constantly expanding capacity and ramping up even more, and we look forward to updating these figures in the coming weeks,” the company added.
Despite the fact that infectious disease experts believe that mass immunisation against COVID-19 is the most effective strategy for combating the pandemic, only 58 percent of Americans have received the entire recommended vaccine series, and vaccinations are unavailable in many parts of the world.
Pfizer has developed a protease inhibitor, an enzyme-inhibiting medicine, to prevent the coronavirus from multiplying.
Merck’s molnupiravir works in a different way, inserting errors into the virus’s genetic code. Merck previously sold millions of courses of the medication, which was approved by UK regulators this week, to the US, the UK, and other countries around the world.
The United Kingdom announced earlier this month that it had purchased 250,000 courses of Pfizer’s antiviral medication.
It is also being investigated whether Pfizer’s pill could be taken by people who do not have risk factors for COVID-19, as well as those who have already been exposed to the virus.
