MANILA: The Philippines has approved the emergency use of Paxlovid, Pfizer’s COVID-19 drug, the country’s food and drug agency said on Friday.
It is the third COVID-19 drug approved by the agency for emergency use, after Roche’s antibody cocktail and Merck & Co’s treatment pill molnupiravir.
Paxlovid can be used to treat adult patients who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk for severe infection, the agency said.
New type of drug
Paxlovid is a combination of two drugs — nirmatrelvir, a new experimental medicine, and ritonavir, an existing antiviral used against HIV. In total, 30 pills are taken over a period of five days.
Nirmatrelvir is known as a “protease inhibitor” and works by blocking the action of an enzyme the coronavirus needs to replicate. Ritonavir is administered to slow down the breakdown of nirmatrelvir inside the body, increasing its efficacy.
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Because Paxlovid does not target the fast-mutating spike proteins that stud the surface of the coronavirus, scientists have hypothesized it should be more variant-proof than other treatments, such as synthetic antibodies infusions and antibodies triggered by most types of Covid vaccine.
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