COVID Breakthrough: Pfizer’s Oral Drug May Be Ready Next Year

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New York: An oral drug to treat COVID-19, developed by Pfizer, may be ready next year.

“We are actually working on two drugs, one is injectable and the other one oral (anti-viral)… Particularly the attention is on the oral for the world and of us because it provides several advantages and one of them is that you don’t need to go to the hospital to get the treatment,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC.

“If all goes well, and we implement the same speed that we are, and if regulators do the same, and they are, I hope that by the end of the year,” Bourla added.

Remdesivir is the only anti-viral drug which has been approved for use against the coronavirus.

Bourla said Pfizer’s drug could be “way more effective against the multiple variants” of coronavirus than current options. “Particularly because it’s not acting on the spike, as we all know, all the mutations that we are hearing right now are seeing this in the proteins of the spike.”

“This one doesn’t work there so that allows us to believe that will be way more effective against the multiple variants. So, all good news. We are now progressing the studies and we will have more news around summer,” the CEO added.

Also Read: Is An Oral AntiViral Drug The Answer To COVID-19 Treatment?