Two antiviral pills may be better than one in the fight against COVID-19 by early 2022. Although the launch of coronavirus vaccines was a great milestone in the fight against the virus over the past year, new antiviral drugs could be of potential play. – Transformers to address the pandemic.
According to a report in Times of India, the European Medicines Agency has recommended the use of two COVID-19 antiviral tablets – Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s Molnupiravir, both of which are awaiting their formal approval. On Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Molnupiravir, a day after Pfizer authorized its COVID pill. Pfizer’s paxlovid is for anyone 12 years of age and older, while Merck’s mollupiravir can only be given to adults 18 years of age and older.
The report also said that the World Health Organization’s regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, said the new drugs would significantly increase the survival chances of coronavirus patients and that the next generation of vaccines would also be more effective against newly emerging strains .
Notably, preliminary drug trials of both pills have shown them to reduce the chances of hospitalization or death from the virus by 89 percent and 30 percent, respectively, in high-risk patients.
Kluge told TASS news agency, “I am also encouraged by the new antiviral drugs that are expected to hit the market in 2022, which greatly increase the chances of survival of patients who end up in hospital with severe COVID-19.” will increase.” ,
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s lab tests also show that PaxLovid continues to work against the fast-spreading Omicron variant. The drugmaker’s CEO Albert Bourla estimated that the pills could prevent 1,200 deaths and 6,000 hospitalizations for every 100,000 COVID patients taking the new pills.
The report also noted that tablets from both Pfizer and Merck should be taken early, within 3-5 days of COVID-19, and may require multiple doses a day for five days. New antiviral drugs come with concerns including affordability and global availability, among others. It now remains to be seen whether drugmakers can meet the demand as cases of the Omicron variant continue to rise around the world.
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