Oral Pill for COVID-19 to be Available by Next Year

Single oral pill from Pfizer for treating COVID-19 could be available by the next year.

"We are actually on two, one is injectable and the other one an oral (antiviral). Particularly the attention is on the oral for the world and of us because provides several advantages and one of them is that you don't need to go to the hospital to get the treatment of which is the case with all the injectables so far but you can get it home," Albert Bourla told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday, as cited by The Hill.

‘New oral pill could be effective against the multiple variants" of the novel coronavirus, as the antiviral doesn't act the spike.’

"If all goes well, and we implement the same speed that we are, and if regulators do the same, and they are, I hope that by the end of the year," Albert Bourla added.

Remdesivir is the only antiviral currently approved for use against the coronavirus, which is manufactured by Gilead Sciences. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the drug full approval in October after it was granted emergency use authorization in May last year.

He also said the medication could be "way more effective against the multiple variants" of the virus than current options adding that the mechanism of action, of the antiviral, is not expected to be subject to mutations, "particularly because it's not acting on the spike, as we all know, all the mutations that we are hearing right now are seeing this in the proteins of the spike."

We are now progressing the studies and we will have more news around summer, the Pfizer CEO said.

"This one doesn't work there so that allows us to believe that will be way more effective against the multiple variants. So, all good news. We are now progressing the studies and we will have more news around summer," the CEO added.



Source: Medindia