Lydia Glenn 

Staff Writer

Pfizer’s strategy to prevent and defeat COVID has recently broadened. On November 5, Pfizer released the results of their studies that they have been conducting. The push for a COVID pill is to reduce and prevent COVID related deaths. 

Pfizer’s press release, available on their website, states that they will submit the data from their studies to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization. The results of the pill showed promising signs for eliminating death in COVID patients, hence Pfizer’s want to make it available. 

In their new drug, PAXLOVIDTM , results showed that it significantly reduced hospitalization and death. The data was based on an interim analysis of the phase 2/3 EPIC-HR, Evaluation of Protease Inhibition for COVID-19 in High-Risk patients. 

The study was run as a randomized, double-blind study of non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19 who were at a high risk of progressing to severe illness. 

The results showed an 89 percent reduction in risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause compared to placebo in patients treated within three days of symptom onset. 

Furthermore, 0.8 percent of patients who received PAXLOVIDTM were hospitalized through day 28 following randomization. This is compared to 7 percent of patients who received placebo and were hospitalized or died. 

There were also similar reductions in COVID related hospitalization or death when patients were treated with PAXLOVIDTM within 5 days of symptom onset. Further statistics can be found on Pfizer’s website where the results of the study are much more elaborate. 

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer said, “These data suggest that our oral antiviral candidate, if approved or authorized by regulatory authorities, has the potential to save patients’ lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations.” 

If Pfizer’s new oral pill is approved by the FDA, it would be groundbreaking. This oral antiviral pill would be the first of its kind. It is specifically designed to inhibit SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease. Specifically, the drug inhibits an enzyme in the human body that is needed to process some viral proteins into their final, functional form. The drug also contains ritonavir which helps to prevent enzymes in the liver from breaking down the antiviral before it has a chance to come in contact with COVID and eradicate it.  

The pill would also open up the realm of at-home COVID treatments. If approved, the pill would give many people the opportunity to treat themselves from the safety of their own home. 

Pfizer also pointed out that the pill will also reduce the probability of infection following exposure. This would be most helpful to people who are already immunocompromised and have little chance of survival once the infection starts. 

Although Pfizer’s studies look promising, there are still many lingering thoughts and questions as to the effectiveness of the drug and how expensive and accessible it will be. 

As the public knows, the antiviral pill is said to largely cut down the number of deaths and hospitalizations. This is good news, but research still needs to equate some large factors in their studies like age, ethnicity and pre-existing health conditions. 

Researchers also want to know if the drugs affect transmission of COVID, or if it prevents illness in people who have been exposed. If the drug possesses these qualities, the pill itself and the vaccine together would be an important tool to help prevent outbreaks. 

Pfizer reported that their drug is safe with minor side effects. They also said that the antivirals were handled well by their test subjects which is a promising fact. 

At the moment, Pfizer is still in the process of testing with their new drug, and the FDA still has yet to decide whether or not the drug should be put into circulation. But, with promising data from scientific trials, and a drug that physically inhibits COVID from infecting the body, this could possibly be the answer to decrease COVID related deaths and hospitalizations.