Could this new drug from Pfizer make the vaccines redundant?
2021-11-22
Biden administration buys 10 million courses of Pfizer Covid treatment pill
Published Thu, Nov 18 20219:46 AM ESTUpdated 3 Hours Ago
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/18/biden-administration-buys-10-million-courses-of-pfizer-covid-treatment-pill.html
That is only two weeks after Pfizer published an interim analysis.
Pfizer’s Novel COVID-19 Oral Antiviral Treatment Candidate Reduced Risk of Hospitalization or Death by 89% in Interim Analysis of Phase 2/3 EPIC-HR Study
Friday, November 05, 2021 - 06:45am
PAXLOVID™ (PF-07321332; ritonavir) was found to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% compared to placebo in non-hospitalized high-risk adults with COVID-19
- In the overall study population through Day 28, no deaths were reported in patients who received PAXLOVID™ as compared to 10 deaths in patients who received placebo
- Pfizer plans to submit the data as part of its ongoing rolling submission to the U.S. FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) as soon as possible
- https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizers-novel-covid-19-oral-antiviral-treatment-candidate
So, what is the US Government buying from Pfizer?
And could this new drug from Pfizer make the vaccines redundant?
An old antiviral drug (for HIV) “Ritonavir“ has been used in the clinical trials and is now reintroduced under the trademark of Paxlovid.
The original patent for the formula was granted to Abbott in 1980 https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/patents/946/wipo_pub_946.pdf
The test period on 3000 COVID-19 patients is set between July 2021 and April 2022 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04960202
An application for a new Trademark was filed in May 2021 and approved in August 2021 https://www.trademarkelite.com/europe/trademark/trademark-detail/018468563/PAXLOVID
New York Times acts as the shop window for Pfizer with yet another “Pfizer says”:
Pfizer Says Its Antiviral Pill Is Highly Effective in Treating Covid
Pfizer’s is the second pill to show effectiveness against Covid-19, and it is the first purpose-built to attack the virus that causes the disease.
Pfizer said its antiviral pill was highly effective at treating Covid-19.
By Rebecca Robbins, Nov. 5, 2021
Pfizer announced on Friday that its pill to treat Covid-19 had been found in a key clinical trial to be highly effective at preventing severe illness among at-risk people who received the drug soon after they exhibited symptoms, making it the second antiviral pill to demonstrate efficacy against Covid.
The drug appears to be more effective than a similar offering from Merck, which is awaiting federal authorization. Pfizer’s pill, which will be sold under the brand name Paxlovid, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent when given within three days after the start of symptoms.
……
“The results are really beyond our wildest dreams,” said Annaliesa Anderson, a Pfizer executive who led the drug’s development. She expressed hope that Paxlovid “can have a big impact on helping all our lives go back to normal again and seeing the end of the pandemic.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/05/health/pfizer-covid-pill.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20211105&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=cta®i_id=11043255&segment_id=73605&user_id=0d649282cdc8af45615cb3c8a76e4c68
Does this mean that there is no longer a need for the Pfizer vaccine?
Note that NYT believes that this medicine is "specially built" for COVID-19 - even though it is already 40 years old and sold worldwide - under the name Ritonavir.