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The medication would be administered to people in the early stages of infection and aims to prevent serious symptoms from developing.
The pharmaceutical company Pfizer believes that by the end of 2021 it could have its pill against covid-19 on the market, since Previous human trials should not be delayed beyond half a year, according to the documents that have been delivered to the study volunteers in the last few hours. As announced by various company officials, this medicine, known as PF-07321332, would be a kind of alternative to vaccine, since the idea is to be able to administer it as a treatment, and not as a prophylaxis, against coronavirus. A tablet that people would take in the early stages of contagion to prevent them from developing more serious symptoms.
"We have designed PF-07321332 as a potential oral therapy that could be prescribed at the first sign of infection, without requiring patients to be hospitalized or in critical care"said Mikael Dolsten, chief scientific officer and president of research at Pfizer in an official statement. "For the foreseeable future we expect to see continued outbreaks of Covid-19," said Charlotte Allerton, head of drug design at Pfizer. "And, Therefore, as with all viral pandemics, it is important that we have a complete toolbox on how to address it," Allerton said.
sixty people
Optimism has taken over in recent days among Pfizer researchers after verifying the promising results of the first clinical tests. About 60 people - all of them adults between 18 and 60 years old - are currently participating in phase I of the trial, which is expected to end on May 25.
The complete study, if there are no delays, will have a total duration of 145 days, plus another month of "screening and dosing", so those responsible for the pharmaceutical company are convinced that before 2022 they could have this medicine on the market, which It will also be tested in liquid form, according to the documents delivered to the study volunteers and which have been leaked in the last few hours to the British press.
Pfizer has been working on developing a medicine for people who have already developed Covid since the end of July last year, when it assigned 210 of its researchers to this project due to the conviction that, after the current health crisis, the resurgences of coronavirus infections in its multiple strains, they will continue to occur even if vaccination becomes widespread. "Given the way SARS-CoV-2 is mutating and the continued global impact of Covid-19, it seems likely that it will be critical to have access to therapeutic options both now and beyond the pandemic," Dolsten explained.
The Pfizer pill, which was presented at a meeting held in early March by the American Chemical Society, is actually the second project for an anti-Covid drug that is being tested. Another pharmaceutical giant, in this case Merck, is working on its antiviral pill molnupiravir, technically known as MK-4482/EIDD-2801, which is in phase II trials. According to an article published in the scientific journal Natura Microbiology, molnupiravir, according to preliminary studies, would be able to block the transmission of the coronavirus and prevent its spread. In addition, it has shown positive effects in reducing viral load. However, at the moment Merck's schedule for bringing this medication to market is unknown.
