Pfizer gets nod from EU regulator for Covid drug Paxlovid – The Peninsula Qatar

  • Date: 27-Jan-2022
  • Source: The Peninsula Qatar
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Qatar
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Pfizer gets nod from EU regulator for Covid drug Paxlovid – The Peninsula Qatar



FILE PHOTO: A Pfizer employee checks the boxes containing Paxlovid, COVID-19 treatment pills, at a distribution facility in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.



Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 pill received backing from the European Union’s drugs regulator, offering a tool to manage coronavirus infections at home and ease the burden on hospitals.


The European Medicines Agency’s expert committee recommended granting conditional marketing authorization for the antiviral, called Paxlovid, for adults with Covid who don’t require supplemental oxygen and are at risk of developing severe disease, the regulator said Thursday. 


The agency had already ruled in December that the treatment could be used by adults, in advance of formal approval.


The prospect of a pill that can be taken orally at home at the first sign of symptoms is sparking optimism about the course of the pandemic, especially amid evidence that the omicron variant causes less severe disease. 


Pfizer shares rose as much as 2.7% in early U.S. trading.


Paxlovid, which works by binding to an enzyme to stop the virus from replicating, reduced hospitalization and death among high-risk patients by 89% in a trial of 1,219 unvaccinated individuals. Pfizer has since said that laboratory testing has shown the treatment is effective against the omicron variant. 


The European Commission will now "fast-track the decision-making