Pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer announced on Thursday that the United States government will pay $5.29 billion for 10 million treatment courses of its experimental antiviral pill against the Wuhan coronavirus.
The pill, PAXLOVID, will be delivered by Pfizer beginning later this year and concluding in 2022, the company’s press release states. It notes that pricing for PAXLOVID “is based on the principles of advance commitment, volume, equity, and affordability.” Pfizer has also entered into advance purchase agreements with several other countries.
Today, we announced an agreement with the U.S. government to provide 10 million treatment courses of our #COVID19 oral #antiviral candidate, following potential @US_FDA authorization. Learn more: https://t.co/dm7XrzWlbA pic.twitter.com/3VBcuBELan
— Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) November 18, 2021
If authorized or approved, this oral #antiviral treatment candidate would be the first of its kind, developed by our scientists in the Pfizer Laboratories. pic.twitter.com/OY91sO5m7o
— Pfizer Inc. (@pfizer) November 18, 2021
“We were thrilled with the recent results of our Phase 2/3 interim analysis, which showed overwhelming efficacy of PAXLOVID in reducing the risk of hospitalization among high-risk patients treated within three days of symptom onset by almost 90% and with no deaths, and are pleased the U.S. government recognizes this potential,” said Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and chief executive officer in a statement. “It is encouraging to see a growing understanding of the valuable role that oral investigational therapies may play in combatting [sic] COVID-19, and we look forward to continuing discussions with governments around the world to help ensure broad access for people everywhere.”
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As I covered in September, Pfizer-BioNTech announced that they were in mid-to-late stage trails to test an oral drug designed to fight COVID-19. This month, findings from studies conducted by the company showed that PAXLOVID cut the risk of COVID-19 hospitalizations and death by 89 percent.
In October, a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company, Merck. Along with their partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, requested approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a COVID-19 fighting pill.
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