- Title: 'Closer to the end' - NY experts embrace Pfizer pill on path to normalcy
- Date: 5th November 2021
- Summary: WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 5, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JESSICA JUSTMAN, AN INFECTIOUS DISEASES SPECIALIST AT COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SENIOR TECHNICAL DIRECTOR AT INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR AIDS CARE AND TREATMENT PROGRAMS, SAYING: "[ON CONFRONTING RESISTANCE] The timeline of the COVID illness itself is a fast timeline. Agai
- Embargoed: 19th November 2021 22:03
- Keywords: Columbia Jessica Justman Merck Mt. Sinai Pfizer Waleed Javaid
- Location: KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN + WESTCHESTER COUNTY + NEW YORK, NEW YORK + KENILWORTH, NEW JERSEY + WASHINGTON, DC + SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / UNKNOWN
- City: KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN + WESTCHESTER COUNTY + NEW YORK, NEW YORK + KENILWORTH, NEW JERSEY + WASHINGTON, DC + SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES / LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / UNKNOWN
- Country: USA
- Topics: Health/Medicine,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA008F2BLC93
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Pfizer experimental antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 cut by 89 percent the chance of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of severe disease, the company said on Friday, as its CEO vowed to make this promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic available globally as quickly as possible.
"This is a big deal," said Jessica Justman, an in infectious diseases specialist at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and senior technical director at the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs (ICAP). "These are pills that are easy to take. It's five days of taking pills twice a day. So this means people can have these pills ready to go in their medicine cabinets.
The trial's results suggest that Pfizer's drug surpasses Merck & Co Inc's pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the chance of dying or being hospitalized for COVID-19 patients at high risk of serious illness.
Pfizer's pill, with the brand name Paxlovid, could secure U.S. regulatory approval by the end of the year. Pfizer said it plans to submit interim trial results to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before the Nov. 25 U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. The trial was stopped early due to its high success rate.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. government has secured millions of doses of Pfizer's drug.
Pfizer's pill is given in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir. The treatment consists of three pills given twice daily. It has been in development for nearly two years.
The Pfizer and Merck pills are eagerly anticipated, with only limited options currently available for treating people sick with COVID-19. Full trial data is not yet available from either company.
Merck's pill was approved by British regulators in a world first on Thursday.
"This drug brings us is a little bit more closer towards the end of this pandemic," said Dr. Waleed Javaid, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
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