Pfizer’s antiviral pill is highly effective at preventing people who catch COVID-19 from becoming seriously ill, the company said today in a press release. A clinical trial showed that the pill, which has the brand name Paxlovid, cut the risk of hospitalization and death by 89 percent for adults at high risk of developing severe disease when it was given within three days of symptoms appearing.
The company said it plans to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use authorization “as soon as possible.”
This is the second effective anti-COVID-19 pill. The first, developed by pharmaceutical company Merck, cut risk of hospitalization and death by about half. The United Kingdom’s health agency authorized the…