Pfizer’s paxlovid drug has the potential to treat high-risk COVID-19 patients
- Paxlovid is an investigational antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19 in both adults and children.[1]
- Pfizer’s oral version of paxlovid significantly reduced hospital admissions and deaths in people infected with SARS-CoV-2.
- The study included 1219 adults who were registered by September 29, 2021.
- Participants who received paxlovid within 3 days of the onset of COVID-19 symptoms had an 11 percent chance of getting admitted to a hospital or death related to COVID-19.
- In contrast, participants who received the placebo had an 89 percent chance for the same consequences.
- Paxlovid contains two medications namely nirmatrelvir and ritonavir which are protease inhibitors.[1]
- Participants treated with paxlovid within 5 days of the onset of symptoms had only 1 percent chance of getting admitted up to day 28 with no deaths while participants in the placebo group had 6.7 percent with 10 deaths.
- Safety analysis revealed that people treated with paxlovid had 1.7 percent chance of experiencing serious adverse events while people treated with placebo had 6.6 percent chance.
Sources:
Mahase E. (2021). Covid-19: Pfizer’s paxlovid is 89% effective in patients at risk of serious illness, company reports. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 375, n2713. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2713
