About 24 hours ago, the UK Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Products Regulatory Board gave a use permit to the COVID-19 pill named Molnupiravir developed by Merck & Co. One day after taking a COVID-19 pill for the first time in the world, an important statement came from Pfizer, known for its coronavirus vaccine co-developed with BioNTech.
Prizer announced the effectiveness of the antiviral pill they developed for COVID-19. The company announced that the pill prevented hospitalization and death from coronavirus by 89%. Thus, Pfizer signaled that Merck & Co, the first company to receive approval for the COVID-19 pill, will make a significant difference to its pill. Merck & Co announced last month that the pill reduced deaths and hospitalizations by 50%.
It is aimed to produce at least 50 million packages by the end of 2022:
The study, in which Pfizer shared this result, was performed on 1,219 COVID-19 patients. The test group in the study consisted of people diagnosed with mild to moderate COVID-19 and at least one serious risk, such as obesity and old age. The drug was given to the patients 3 and 5 days after the onset of symptoms in the study.
According to the results, 0.8% of people who took the drug 3 days after the onset of symptoms were hospitalized. It was determined that none of them died 28 days after the treatment. The hospitalization rate of patients in the placebo group was 7%, and 7 people died.
Similar results were seen in people who took the pill 5 days after the onset of symptoms. 1% of patients who received the drug were hospitalized, while 6.7% of those in the placebo group were hospitalized. Ten people in the placebo group died. The company has not yet disclosed any side effects of the drug. However, he explained that 20% of patients in both the treatment and placebo groups experienced adverse effects.
However, the company announced that it expects to produce 180,000 packs of the pill by the end of 2021, and this number will rise to at least 50 million by the end of 2022. Following Pfizer’s announcement of the pill, the company’s shares rose 13%. Shares of Pfizer’s rival Merck & Co fell 6%.
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