Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced today a “golden” deal worth $ 5.29 billion with the US government for the delivery of ten million doses of its antiviral drug against COVID-19 starting this year.
Oral medicine can be a promising new weapon in the fight against pandemics, as it can be given early for home treatment to help prevent COVID-19 illness and death.
Pfizer announced Tuesday that it has applied to the United States for a license for the drug Paxlovid, and said it expects to make 180,000 doses by the end of next month and at least 50 million doses by the end of 2022.
“This promising treatment could help accelerate the recovery from this pandemic by offering another life-saving tool for people with COVID-19,” said Javier Besera, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services.
The company announced earlier this month that the drug reduces by 89% the chance of hospitalization or death of adults at risk of becoming seriously ill.
Test results show Pfizer is more effective than Merck’s pill, molnupiravir, which last month was shown to halve the risk of death or hospitalization for COVID-19 patients at high risk for serious illness. .
The U.S. government has also signed a $ 2.2 billion contract for doses of Merck drug.
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