Last week, Pfizer halted clinical trials of its experimental COVID-19 pill, reporting it was successful in preventing people from becoming hospitalized or dying from the disease. The antiviral medication is given in combination with a low dose of an HIV drug called ritonavir. Pfizer said the pill can reduce hospitalizations or deaths from COVID-19 by up to 89% among high-risk patients, including older adults and people with underlying health conditions, such as obesity or type 2 diabetes. In related news, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced a single dose of its antibody cocktail REGEN-COV reduced the risk of contracting COVID-19 by 82% in the two-to-eight-months period following the drug’s administration in a late-stage trial. The company said the therapy’s potential to provide long-lasting immunity could be especially beneficial to immunocompromised people and those who don’t respond to vaccines. (NBC News article, 11/5/21)
