Pfizer’s Covid pill, Paxlovid, was 44% effective against hospitalization and death in vaccinated people aged 50 and over, says study done in the United States.
The treatment also showed similar protection against hospitalization and death caused by the omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The results were published on Monday (12) in the scientific journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Efficacy data for the drug, which is a combination of nirmaltrevir and ritonavir, released by the pharmaceutical company showed an 89% reduction in hospitalizations and deaths, but these numbers were related to unvaccinated and high-risk individuals.
The pharmaceutical company’s period of study occurred before the arrival of omicron and its subvariants, which also led to questions by the scientific community about its action against these more recent forms of the virus.
In the new study, researchers used data from patients who tested positive for Covid from January 1 to July 17, 2022 from the Mass General Brigham network, which includes Massachusetts state hospitals such as Brigham Hospital for Women and Brigham General Hospital. Massachusetts, in Boston. Almost 45,000 individuals aged 50 or over and not hospitalized were analyzed.
The study period included the circulation of the BA.1, BA.2, BA.5 variants and their omicron sublines.
Nearly a third of them (28%, or 12,451) received Paxlovid treatment, while 72% (32,010) were not treated and served as a control group. The hospitalization rate during the study period was low, 1%. The relative risk of hospitalization in the treated group was 0.55% (69 individuals), while in the control group it was 0.97% (310).
Thus, the researchers concluded that treatment with Paxlovid was 44% effective in protecting against Covid hospitalization. In some groups, such as individuals with an incomplete vaccination schedule (without the booster dose), the effectiveness against hospitalization and death reached 81%.
According to the study’s authors, the 81% reduction in hospitalization in individuals without the complete vaccination schedule is similar to the efficacy found in the Pfizer clinical trial. According to the authors, the lower hospitalization rate in the study conducted in the Mass General Brigham network is due to the pandemic context, which is less severe and has a higher proportion of fully vaccinated individuals.
Still according to the researchers, there are some variables that can be investigated in future studies, such as the difference in prescription for white patients compared to black and Latino ethnicities — other studies have already indicated that black patients tend to receive less indication of effective treatments .
The high cost of treatment can also be a limiting factor — the complete cycle indicated by the pharmaceutical company covers two pills daily over five days. According to information released by Reuters in February, each Paxlovid treatment cost the US government about $530.
One of the study’s strengths, however, was the indication that Paxlovid’s protection was greater the longer since the last Covid vaccine that patient received (20 weeks or more). This indicates that, in people who are behind on boosting, Pfizer’s drug may help reduce the risk of hospitalization and death.
Finally, the authors conclude that the research provides further evidence in favor of the use of Paxlovid in a public health context, where still other protective measures, including vaccination, should be considered. Furthermore, the reduction of around 40% in hospitalization and up to 70% against death indicates a clear benefit of the drug as a treatment for Covid.
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