U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is aiming to expand access to COVID-19 oral antiviral treatments like Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid by doubling the number of locations at which they are available, the White House said on April 26.
Worldwide demand for Pfizer Inc.’s oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid has been unexpectedly light due to complicated eligibility requirements, reduced testing and potential for drug interactions, a Reuters review of data and interviews with experts found.
Individual Studies Suggest Pfizer’s Paxlovid May Treat Long COVID
'Herd Immunity', BioSpace, CDC, Clinical Trials, CNN, Coronavirus Cases, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Reinfections, Dr. Anthony Fauci (Director), Hong Kong, Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients, JAMA Network, Long COVID, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Omicron (B.1.1.529) (South Africa), Paxlovid, Psychiatric Disorders, R&D, Reuters, Sinovac, Stanford UniversityAlthough research is being conducted on Long COVID or Long COVID-19, whose symptoms continue for weeks and months after initial infection, there are very few ongoing clinical trials on treatments. Anecdotally, there has been what appears to be a successful treatment for Long Covid using Pfizer’s antiviral regimen Paxlovid.
FDA says current dose of GSK-Vir COVID therapy unlikely to work against BA.2 variant
Bebtelovimab (LY-CoV1404; LY3853113), CDC, Columbia University, COVID-19 Antibodies, COVID-19 treatment pill, FDA, GlaxoSmithKline, Molnupiravir, Omicron (B.1.1.529) (South Africa), Omicron BA.2, Paxlovid, Remdesivir, Sotrovimab, Vir BiotechnologyThe U.S. health regulator said on March 25 the current authorized dose of GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology’s COVID-19 antibody therapy is unlikely to be effective against the Omicron BA.2 variant.
Thirty five generic drugmakers around the world will make cheap versions of Pfizer Inc.’s highly effective COVID-19 oral antiviral Paxlovid to supply the treatment in 95 poorer countries, the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) said on March 17.
Pfizer has begun a mid-to-late-stage study of the company’s antiviral COVID-19 pill for non-hospitalized children aged 6-17 years who are at high risk of developing severe illness.
A World Health Organization (WHO) panel on March 2 backed the use of Merck & Co. Inc.’s COVID-19 antiviral pill for high-risk patients.
Pfizer Inc. is expected to provide around 10 million courses of the company’s highly effective COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid to low-income and middle-income countries during 2022, according to an official with the Global Fund, a healthcare NGO working to buy the pills from the drugmaker.
During his first State of the Union Address, President Biden noted that the pandemic has been a disruptive force on multiple levels, not only for the United States but the entire globe. Among his pledges is a plan to distribute Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid free of charge to people who test positive.
Covid-19: A Vision for the “New Normal” and Pfizer’s Paxlovid
CDC, Clinical Trials, Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic, COVID-19 booster shots, COVID-19 shots, COVID-19 Vaccinations, Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients, Immunosuppression, Long COVID, Medicines Patent Pool, New England Journal of Medicine, Omicron BA.2, Paxlovid, R&DEarly in the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a lot of talk about the “new normal,” with most people wanting to get back to the “old normal.” Two-plus years into the pandemic, it’s obvious that COVID-19 is not going away, prompting discussion about what this “new normal” will actually look like.