Pfizer this week started a phase one trial of the first oral pill as a potential COVID-19 treatment.
The pharmaceutical company said PF-07321332 is an oral therapeutic with “potent antiviral activity” against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that is currently being tested in hospitalized study participants with coronavirus in the U.S.
“Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic requires both prevention via vaccine and targeted treatment for those who contract the virus. Given the way that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating and the continued global impact of COVID-19, it appears likely that it will be critical to have access to therapeutic options both now and beyond the pandemic,” said Dr. Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical of Pfizer, in a statement Tuesday. “We have designed PF-07321332 as a potential oral therapy that could be prescribed at the first sign of infection, without requiring that patients are hospitalized or in critical care.”
The oral therapy is a protease inhibitor, meaning it prevents the virus from replicating in the cell. These inhibitors have been used to treat other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C virus, Pfizer said.
The company is also testing an intravenously administered investigational protease inhibitor, PF-07304814, which is currently undergoing a phase one multi-dose trial in hospitalized clinical trial participants with COVID-19.
• Shen Wu Tan can be reached at stan@washingtontimes.com.
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