A course of pills developed by Pfizer can slash the risk of being\nhospitalized or dying from COVID-19 by 89% if taken within three days of\ndeveloping symptoms, according to results released Friday by the pharmaceutical\ncompany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a study of more than 1,200 COVID-19 patients with a higher risk of\ndeveloping serious illness, people who took Pfizer’s pills were far less likely\nto end up in the hospital compared to people who got placebo pills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None of the people who got the real pills died, but 10 people who got\nplacebo pills died, according to results summarized in a Pfizer press release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in prepared remarks that the data suggest\nthe pill-based treatment, if authorized, could “eliminate up to nine out\nof ten hospitalizations.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Infectious disease experts cautioned these results are preliminary —\nonly described in a press release and not in a peer-reviewed medical journal —\nbut they represent another promising development in the search for effective\nand easy-to-administer COVID-19 pills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right now, the only authorized treatments are given via intravenous\ninfusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Having an oral therapy is critically important,” said Dr.\nCarlos Del Rio, the executive associate dean and a global health expert at the\nEmory School of Medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“If we can get patients to start treatment early before they\nprogress to severe illness and unfortunately death, everyone wins in the fight\nagainst COVID,” said Dr. Simone Wildes, a board-certified infectious\ndisease physician at South Shore Health and an ABC News contributor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Infectious disease specialists stressed that these pills are not a\nreplacement for a vaccine — by far the safest and most effective way to reduce\nthe risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But they may make a big difference if given quickly to people after\ngetting COVID-19, especially the immune compromised, or in places where a\nvaccine is not available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pfizer’s pill-based treatment “would be a good drug for patient\nwith COVID and high risk of progression, vaccinated or not,” said Del Rio,\n“although the vaccinated were not included in this study.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another company — Merck — is ahead of Pfizer on developing a COVID\npill treatment, having already applied with the Food and Drug Administration\nfor authorization. Emergency use authorization for the Merck treatment may come\nbefore the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merck’s treatment reduced the risk of hospitalizations and deaths by\n50%. This could indicate Pfizer’s treatment has an edge on efficacy, but\nexperts cautioned against comparing the studies directly because they were designed\nin different ways, and measured different so-called “primary\nendpoints.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We need to be cautious comparing studies,” said Dr. Todd\nEllerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health and an ABC News\nMedical Contributor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FDA analyzes safety and efficacy before authorizing any medication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FDA’s advisory committee is set to review Merck’s application on\nNov. 30. Merck CEO told CNBC at the end of October that the company is ready to\ndistribute 10 million courses of treatment by the end of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pfizer, meanwhile, plans to start sharing the data with the FDA “as\nsoon as possible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This Pfizer data is from one of three clinical trials that the company\nis running. The results from the other two trials are expected by the end of\nthe year. Pfizer then plans to submit all the data and seek authorization at\nthat time, meaning the new medication may be available in early 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using lessons learned from other infectious diseases, experts said it\nmight one day prove beneficial to combine different antiviral treatments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Pfizer oral drug is an investigational SARS-COV-2 protease\ninhibitor antiviral therapy,” Wildes said. “We have used protease\ninhibitors drugs in our HIV patients with and they have worked well.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Big picture is this is similar to HIV and [hepatitis C] where we have different antivirals,” Ellerin added. “There may be opportunity for combination therapy in the future.”
ABC News
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