New Pfizer drug reduces risk of severe coronavirus disease by almost 90%

The new drug Paxlovid, developed by the American corporation Pfizer, reduces the risk of hospitalization and death of patients with coronavirus by 89%. This is with reference to the results of the final stage of clinical trials of the drug reports the newspaper Financial Times .

The developer noted that it is suspending trials due to Paxlovid's "amazing performance" and is beginning to promptly transfer information to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The Pfizer drug, if the data on effectiveness is confirmed by the regulator, claims to be a breakthrough product for the market. For example, a drug previously developed by Merck Corporation reduces the risk of severe COVID-19 by only 50%. At the same time, the day before, on November 4, the Merck drug received its first approval from the national regulator - in the UK.

Pfizer CEO Albert Buria said that Paxlovir "will help make a breakthrough in the global effort to confront a devastating pandemic." According to the head of the company, the data show that the drug is able to "save lives, reduce the risk of complications and save patients from hospitalization in 9 out of 10 cases."

• Trials of Paxlovir have focused on high-risk patients who have already been infected with COVID-19 but have not yet been hospitalized. In total, 1219 people around the world participated in the study as of the end of September.

• Only 0.8% of respondents who took the medicine, after three days from the onset of the first symptoms, ended up in hospitals. In the placebo group, the same indicator, for comparison, reached 7%. The same proportion was maintained for a period of five days.

• None of the patients who took Paxlovir ended up dying. In the placebo group, 1.6% of respondents died.

• Tablets from Pfizer have already received a number of large government orders. 500,000 doses will be delivered to Australia, 250,000 to the UK, and 70,000 to South Korea. According to Pfizer, the company will sell the drug to developing countries on preferential terms.

• Pfizer also remains one of the world's largest manufacturers of the COVID-19 vaccine, which the company has developed with Germany's BioNTech. The vaccine, according to analysts, will increase Pfizer's revenue by $36 billion this year alone. In 2022, the figure could rise to $90 billion .

• On November 3, the British Medical Journal published an investigation into the violations committed during the clinical trials of the Pfizer vaccine at one of the enterprises participating in the Ventavia Research Group process. The company's ex-manager, Brooke Jackson, documented that the vaccine was improperly stored during the trial period, the personal data of patients participating in the studies were not securely protected, and some information about the results was hidden from the FDA.

• Merck & Co. also announced the end of a collaborative trial of a coronavirus drug called Molnupiravir this week. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP. Molnupiravir is already approved in the UK and is in the process of being approved for use in the US.
• Merck and Ridgeback said that Molnupiravir reduces the risk of hospitalization or death by an average of 50% in people with mild to moderate COVID-19. Against the backdrop of an 89% effectiveness of Pfizer's drug, this result does not look impressive, which could cause sales problems for Merck and Ridgeback, predicts . The Wall Street Journal

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