Pfizer’s Covid-19 oral antiviral drug cut the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89 per cent in a late-stage trial, creating a potential new tool in treating patients and combating the pandemic.
The US pharmaceutical company said on Friday it was stopping the trial due to the “overwhelming efficacy”. It will add the data for the drug known as Paxlovid to its rolling submission to the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorisation as soon as possible.
The trial focused on high-risk patients who were not yet hospitalised, with the interim analysis based on 1,219 patients enrolled by late September in sites across the world.
The data showed only 0.8 per cent of trial participants who took the antiviral drug within three days of getting symptoms were hospitalised, compared with 7 per cent who received a placebo. The results were similar to those treated within five days. None of the patients taking the drug died, compared with 1.6 per cent who received a placebo.
The results of the study suggest the drug is even more effective than the antiviral developed by Merck, the company known as MSD outside the US, which cut the risk of hospitalisation or death in half, although the trial results may not be directly comparable. Merck’s drug received its first authorisation, in the UK, on Thursday.
Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla said the trial results were “a real game-changer in the global efforts to halt the devastation of this pandemic”.
“These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved or authorised by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of Covid-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of 10 hospitalisations,” he added.
Pfizer’s shares were up 8.2 per cent to $47.46 after the encouraging data, which helped lift the share price of cruise operators, airlines and other companies that have been hurt by the pandemic.
Royal Caribbean Cruises rose as much as 10 per cent before easing back to a gain of about 7.5 per cent, still on course for its biggest one-day increase in three months. The company recently pushed back delivery of new ships, in part due to supply chain issues and a slower than expected reopening after the pandemic. Rival cruise operator Carnival advanced more than 7 per cent.
Delta and Southwest Airlines were among the biggest movers for the day, both up more than 5 per cent, with online travel company Expedia Group up 12 per cent. Live Nation Entertainment, which puts on live concerts that have been curtailed by social restrictions through the pandemic, led the S&P 500 higher in morning trading in New York, up almost 14 per cent.
At the other end of the spectrum, Pfizer’s vaccine rival Moderna sank almost 17 per cent, the worst performance of any company in the S&P 500 on Friday morning, followed by Merck and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, down 9 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.
US-based Pfizer is also rapidly gaining market share with the coronavirus vaccine it developed with Germany’s BioNTech. Pfizer said this week that jab was due to generate $36bn in sales this year.
Pfizer has said it will offer cheaper prices for the pill to developing countries. It is already signing government contracts for the antiviral, agreeing to sell 500,000 doses to Australia, 250,000 to the UK and 70,000 to South Korea. Sajid Javid, the UK’s health and social care secretary, said the results were “incredible”.
Andrew Hill, a senior visiting research fellow in pharmacology at the University of Liverpool, called it a “very important” result.
“We need treatments for people with mild infections to prevent hospitalisation and lower the burden on overwhelmed health services,” he said. But he added that it could be challenging to treat patients early enough, within the first five days.
As an oral drug, the antiviral could be prescribed as an at-home treatment to cut the severity of the disease and reduce the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems. The drug is far simpler to administer than antibody treatments or Gilead Sciences’ antiviral remdesivir, which is an infusion.
The antiviral is designed to block an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate. It is given with a medication usually used to treat HIV to ensure it remains active in the body for a longer period of time. Pfizer has been trying to procure more of that drug, called ritonavir, which is no longer subject to patent restrictions in most countries, according to people familiar with the matter.
Pfizer is also conducting studies to see how effective the drug is in standard risk populations and for people who have had household contacts with infected patients. The company said that it had shown “potent” activity against circulating variants of concern and even other known coronaviruses.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50Lzg0OGNjZTU0LTBkNDctNDQ4OC1iODI5LTU1MzlhYmRkY2Y2ZdIBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50Lzg0OGNjZTU0LTBkNDctNDQ4OC1iODI5LTU1MzlhYmRkY2Y2ZQ?oc=5
2021-11-05 14:48:24Z
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