Covid, the FDA gives the green light to the Pfizer pill in the US

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22 December 2021 The US Food and Drug Administration, the American authority on drugs, has given the green light to

, Pfizer's anti Covid-19 pill, which thus becomes the first drug to be taken at home against virus. Oral treatment involves patients taking a series of pills for several days and is thought to help ease the pressure on hospitals at a time of severe contagion spikes.

The US government has ordered 10 million Pfizer treatments; the company said it was ready to start deliveries "immediately".

The

showed Pfizer's drug reduced hospitalization cases by 89% for patients who received the drug within three days of first symptoms.

 "There is an urgent need for life-saving treatment options. The efficacy shown in recent clinical studies by Paxlovid highlights the essential role that oral antiviral therapies can play in the battle against Covid," said 

, chief executive. Pfizer, at the time of submitting the authorization request for the Covid-19 pill.

The American Medicines Agency, announcing the emergency use authorization (Eua) for the drug Paxlovid (Nirmatrelvir and Ritonavir tablets packaged together), specified that Paxlovid is only available by prescription. In addition, the FDA specified that therapy should be started as soon as possible after diagnosis, within 5 days of the onset of symptoms for the treatment of mild to moderate Sars-CoV-2 infection in adults and children over 12. weighing at least 40 kilograms, at high risk of progression to severe disease, including hospitalization and death. The

as 3 tablets, 2 of Nirmatrelvir and one of Ritonavir, to be taken together twice a day for 5 days, for a total of 30 tablets.

"Today's authorization introduces the first anti-Covid-19 treatment to be taken orally", representing "an important step forward in the fight against this pandemic", says

, head of the Center for drug research and evaluation. of the Fda.

The green light for the pill, he adds, "provides a new tool to combat Covid-19 at a pivotal time in the pandemic as new variants emerge, and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients at high risk of progression to severe Covid."  

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