Pfizer's COVID-19 pill Paxlovid reduces risk of severe disease

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-02-17 09:00

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Pfizer's Paxlovid pill reduces the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 progressing to severe disease by 89 per cent, according to the company's phase 2-3 trial. Paxlovid contains the drug Nirmatrelvir with Ritonavir acting as an enhancer. The study saw 2246 non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients at risk of developing severe COVID-19 assigned to either receive a course of the pill or a placebo. Comparing the rates of severe COVID-19 in the two groups, the researchers say significantly fewer people who received the treatment were hospitalised, and all 13 deaths were in the placebo group.