December 14, 2021 – Pfizer Inc. said that preliminary lab tests showed encouraging signs that the company’s experimental Covid-19 pill for the newly infected could work against Omicron. Pfizer also said Tuesday that a final analysis of late-stage study results confirmed the drug, Paxlovid, was 89% effective at reducing the risk of hospitalization and death in adults at high risk of severe Covid-19.
The FDA is currently reviewing whether to clear the use of Paxlovid in high-risk adults. The decision could come before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, a separate, preliminary analysis provided signs the drug may help people at low risk of severe Covid-19, such as vaccinated individuals who end up becoming sick. Paxlovid in the early study analysis reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 70% in adults at low risk of severe Covid-19, though it failed to reduce or resolve their symptoms within four days.
Both studies testing Paxlovid in people showed that the amount of virus, or viral load, in subjects who received the drug was significantly less than in the placebo groups, Pfizer said.
A lower viral load could mean less transmission of the virus. Doctors and health experts have been looking for an antiviral like Paxlovid, which people could easily take at home within several days of symptoms emerging to prevent their cases from turning serious and requiring hospitalization.
The emergence of Omicron has shadowed the approach of such antivirals, however, because of uncertainty whether the new strain could elude treatments and vaccines.