Kevin Bae

Non-Social in a Socially Networked World

Are experimental COVID-19 pills better than shots?

This seems like a psychological game. People that are “vaccine hesitant” might find a pill easier to swallow than an injection because an injection just feels more invasive doesn’t it? Either way you are taking something that is experimental. Pfizer just announced their new magic pill, Paxlovid, that is supposed to be 89% effective against COVID-19 and Merck already has their experimental pill, Molnupiravir, that is supposedly only 50% effective against the dreaded disease.

Because the experimental medication is in pill form will you be more willing to ingest it?

Pfizer Inc. said a preliminary look at study results indicated that its experimental pill was highly effective at preventing people at high risk of severe Covid-19 from needing hospitalization or dying, the latest encouraging performance for an early virus treatment.

Pfizer plans to ask the Food and Drug Administration to authorize the drug’s use this month, and the company could deliver doses this year should regulators give a thumbs-up, Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said.

Pfizer Says Covid-19 Pill Is 89% Effective in Preliminary Assessment – WSJ

The company’s drug cut the risk of hospitalization or death in study subjects with mild to moderate Covid-19 by about 89% if they took the pill within three days of diagnosis, Pfizer said Friday. The drug, called Paxlovid, was also found to be generally safe and well-tolerated in the early look at ongoing study results, the company said.

Merck on Friday announced that its new pill to treat Covid-19 reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by about 50 percent. Merck plans to seek emergency authorization for the antiviral pills to be used in the United States.

The pills are meant for people who are sick with Covid but are not in the hospital. Merck’s Phase 3 clinical trial enrolled only unvaccinated people who were considered high risk, such as older people or those with medical conditions like diabetes or heart disease. Initially, the drug might only be available for those people, but experts expect it to eventually become more widely available.

Merck’s Covid Treatment Pill: What to Know About Molnupiravir – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

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