Pfizer’s coronavirus pill could be ready by the end of this year

As countries redouble their efforts to speed up coronavirus vaccination campaigns, the scientific community continues to work to find other alternatives to stop the spread of covid-19. According to the slogan The telegraph, The pill developed by the North American laboratory Pfizer could be available later this year if human trials in the United States and Belgium are successful.

The antiviral drug, called PF-07321332It could be administered to prevent the disease from worsening in those who show the first symptoms.

About 60 people – all adults between the ages of 18 and 60 – are currently participating in the first phase of the trial, which is scheduled to end on May 25. Once finished, If the pill is found to be safe, more people will be tested to see if the drug effectively stops COVID-19, as suggested by the first lab tests.

These tests showed “potent antiviral activity” in the lab, which is why it is currently undergoing security checks.

The essay is divided in three phases and lasts 145 days, to which will be added an additional 28 days of “screening and testing”. Phase 1 is designed to see “how it is tolerated when the dose is increased, alone or with ritonavir, if there are any significant side effects and how people feel after taking it”. In the second step the same will be done but with “multiple doses”, while in the last step the liquid and pill forms of the drug will be tested, as well as the impact of the food on it, depending on the patient. document that was given to test volunteers, and to which they had access The telegraph.

“The safety of the study drug has been studied in animals. In these animal studies, no significant risks or safety events of concern were identified, and the study drug did not cause any side effects at any of the dose levels that will be used in clinical studies, ”adds the document.

PF-07321332 will be administered in combination with low dose ritonavir, an antiviral used to treat HIV. It acts as a “booster” to increase the amount of PF-07321332 in the blood of participants.

“We designed PF-07321332 as a possible oral therapy that could be prescribed at the first sign of infection, without patients being hospitalized or in intensive care.”, manifested Mikael Dolsten, chief scientist and president of research, development and global medicine at Pfizer, in an official statement released last month.

Classified as a “protease inhibitor”, the pill was formulated to attack the “spine” of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and prevent it from replicating in the nose, throat and lungs.

However, bringing a new drug to market is a long and difficult process. Although PF-07321332 is well tolerated in humans, trials should be conducted to determine if it is effective in people infected with COVID-19.

“If they have reached this stage, they will be calmly optimistic,” said the teacher. Penny ward, Visiting Professor of Pharmaceutical Medicine at King’s College London and pioneer in the development of Tamiflu, an antiviral that fights seasonal and pandemic influenza. “The question will be how the drug is tolerated …”, he warned.

According to Professor Ward, scientists at Pfizer have most likely established the drug’s “potent” action. when deployed against cultures of infected human tissue, including lung tissue, in a laboratory. “Once we know that it works in vitro, it is a question of establishing its tolerance in animals and then in humans,” he explained.

“It would be a big step forward if antiviral drugs work … Normal services can work and there would be no need to apply blockages,” said the professor. Kevin blyth, a scientist at the University of Glasgow, who is leading a trial on the antiviral drug favipiravir, which could be given after a person has been infected with the virus, according to reports from Daily mail.

The UK is following Pfizer’s trials closely as it intends to purchase the pills once they become available. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that a new antiviral task force would be formed to find these drugs and try to make them available in the country by fall.

“This means, for example, that if your test is positive, there might be a pill you could take at home to stop the virus and significantly reduce the risk of the infection turning into a more serious illness. Or if you live with someone who has tested positive, there may be a pill you can take for a few days to keep yourself from getting infected.“he commented during a briefing in Downing Street.

Remdesivir is the only antiviral medicine routinely used in hospitals in the UK and USA. However, it must be injected and studies have struggled to show that it is effective because it was not specifically designed to stop COVID-19.

Specific therapies under development for the coronavirus include molnupiravir, from Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics; tollovir, from Todos Medical; and the NT-300, from Romark. An influenza drug, favipiravir, and the HIV antivirals, ritonavir and lopinavir, are also being tested to see if they can be reused in people with coronavirus.

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