Ground crew moves pallets of a shipment of Pfizer’s antiviral Covid-19 pills, Paxlovid
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Pfizer announced on Tuesday that it has signed a contract with UNICEF for 4 million courses of its Covid antiviral treatment, Paxlovid. The pills will be delivered to 95 low- and middle-income countries as they authorize or approve its use. The countries involved represent just over half of the global population.
“Supplying to UNICEF is an important part of our comprehensive strategy to accelerate access to Paxlovid to treat Covid-19 infection as quickly as possible and at an affordable price in order to decrease the strain on healthcare systems and help save lives in low- and middle-income countries,” CEO Albert Bourla said in a press release.
Paxlovid is a combination of two drugs and acts as a protease inhibitor. This class of drug has been successfully used as a treatment for HIV and hepatitis C and works by helping to prevent the virus that causes Covid from replicating. This lowers the amount of virus in a patient and ultimately reduces severity of disease.
Data from a study the company released in December found that the drug was 88% effective at preventing hospitalizations and deaths if taken within 5 days after the onset of symptoms. Shortly thereafter, the FDA authorized the treatment for emergency use for patients aged 12 and older.
Earlier this month, the company announced it had begun clinical trials for pediatric patients aged at least six years old. Additionally, the company’s Chief Science Officer Mikael Dolsten said at an earnings presentation in February that the company “anticipates a New Drug Application decision by the FDA in the high-risk population in the second half of 2022.”
The financial terms of the deal with UNICEF were not disclosed, but Bourla stated in an earnings presentation in February that Pfizer would be providing the drug at cost to low-income countries. Additionally, it was announced last week that nearly three dozen companies around the world have signed contracts to make generic versions of the antiviral medication for low- and middle-income countries as well.
“We have seen the negative impacts of Covid-19 in every part of the world and know that we must work towards access for all people regardless of where they live or their circumstances,” Bourla said in the release.
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