Key points:
✔️ Randomized trial data suggest Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral pill is safe and efficacious in high-risk unvaccinated populations
✔️ Taken in combo w/a common HIV drug, Pfizer’s antiviral reduces risk of hospitalization or death by 89% over placebo when taken w/in 3 days of onset
✔️ What scientists still want to know: How well will the treatment regime (30 pills in 5 days!) work outside of the rigorously controlled setting of clinical trials? Against new variants? Against drug resistance? Who will have access?
✔️Pfizer’s review will happen subsequent to competitor Merck’s, which is expected end of this month
✔️Optimistic timeline for market access: end of this calendar year (!)
We’ll be back with a deeper data dive once the full trial results are made public.
Stay tuned, stay hopeful.
Love, Your Nerdy Girls
References:
Nature, “COVID Antiviral Pills: What Scientists Still Want to Know: News Explainer.”
NBC Chicago, “What to Know about COVID-19 Pills and What They Mean for the Pandemic Fight.”
