The 2 new antiviral Covid pills could be game-changers in the pandemic fight — here's how. (via CNBCMakeIt)
The country's first two antiviral Covid pills are here — and they could be potential game-changers for addressing the pandemic.
Both pills come with potential concerns, including affordability for the average person. Pfizer's pill reduced hospitalizations and deaths in high-risk patients by 88% in clinical trials, while Merck's pill — which isn't recommended for people who are pregnant — only cut those rates by 30%. Paxlovid is a type of drug called a protease inhibitor, and is "perhaps a little more exciting," Griffin says.
Patients take six pills per day — four Paxlovid pills, and two pills of a common HIV drug called ritonavir — for five days. The ritonavir acts as a booster to help Paxlovid "be in the body, remain active and do its job longer," O'Donnell says., Paxlovid and ritonavir reduce the risk of hospitalization or death in high-risk patients by 89%.that it'll use a tiered pricing approach for the pill, scaling the drug's cost based on a country's income level.
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