Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 19. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on the 18th that the National Institutes of Health is in talks with Pfizer to study whether to extend Pfizer’s oral drug for the treatment of new crowns. A course of nematvir/ritonavir combination (Paxlovid) to prevent relapse after recovery.
This undated photo shows Paxlovid, an oral drug made by Pfizer. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of Pfizer)
Fauci said at a White House news conference, “We will arrange in the next few days which studies will be carried out very soon” to Determine if a prolonged course of medication is necessary.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December approved emergency use of Paxlovid for the treatment of people over the age of 12 with mild to moderate COVID-19 and those at higher risk for severe disease. According to the FDA, patients must take the medicine as soon as possible after being diagnosed with the new crown, and start taking it within 5 days after the onset of symptoms of the new crown. The standard course of treatment is 5 days.
According to Reuters, more than 660,000 standard courses of pills have been used in the United States so far due to the surge in demand for Paxlovid due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus variant strain Omicron. But there are growing reports that, in rare cases, patients may relapse shortly after taking the drug for five days and test positive for the new coronavirus, albeit with milder symptoms, according to NBC.
Specific data on such recurrences are not known. In Pfizer’s clinical trials, about 2% of patients completed a standard course of treatment with an increase in their viral load, compared with about 1.5% of patients who received a placebo.
Pfizer had previously recommended adding a 5-day course to treat relapsed patients, but the FDA said there was no evidence to support a second 5-day course or extending the course to 10 days.
On May 12, in Washington, USA, the American flags around the Washington Monument were flown at half-mast to mourn the deceased of the new crown. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Jie
Ashish Jha, coordinator of the White House New Crown Response Task Force, said that when Pfizer’s above-mentioned clinical trials were carried out, the main epidemic strain of the new crown epidemic was Del. It is unclear whether the recurrence rate will increase when the current mainstream strain is Omicron.
Jeha said at a news conference on the 18th that Paxlovid has performed well in reducing the risk of new crown hospitalization and death, and does not appear to be affected by recurrent cases. Demand for the drug has soared in the U.S., with demand quadrupling in the past month and an estimated 20,000 prescriptions a day from doctors.
Paxlovid is composed of two antiviral drugs, the small-molecule drugs nematevir and ritonavir, which can reduce the ability of the new coronavirus to reproduce in the human body. Among them, nematevir is an inhibitor against the main protease of the new coronavirus; ritonavir is an antiviral drug synergist, which has been used to fight HIV before. A previous study by the World Health Organization showed that the new coronavirus oral drug can reduce the rate of hospitalization of patients by 85%. (Wang Xinfang)