“Today’s authorization introduces the first drug for COVID-19 in the form of tablets taken orally – this is an important step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” the report says.
The drug is not approved for pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 or for the beginning of treatment of patients requiring hospitalization due to severe or critical course of COVID-19.
Pfizer shares are up 2% in trading on the New York Stock Exchange. At 20:56 Moscow time, the price for the paper was $60.17, which is 2.01% more than at the close of trading of the previous session.
Pfizer previously reported that the pills it developed against COVID-19 reduce by 90% the likelihood of hospitalization or death in patients belonging to the high-risk group. The drug was tested on a group of 2,246 adults. None of the study participants who received the drug from Pfizer died, 12 deaths among placebo recipients.