Pfizer announced on the 18th that experiments showed that its new COVID 19 drug Paxlovid was effective against Omicron. (Photo from Reuters)

(We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 19, 2022) Pfizer (Pfizer) issued a press release on the 18th, saying that its new COVID 19 drug Paxlovid has shown that the main ingredient nirmatrelvir is effective in the treatment of patients infected with the new COVID 19 virus Omicron in three separate trials; this encouraging early indication that, the drug could be an important tool at a time when Omicron is raging. The findings have not yet been published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

The Wall Street Journal reported that patients in the trial took two pills of Nirmatrelvir and one pill of the antiviral drug Ritonavir twice a day for five days.

"These data demonstrate that Pfizer's oral Covid-19 drug can be an important and effective tool for sustained combat against devastating viruses and variants of current concern, including the highly infectious Omicron," said Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer's chief of science.

In an experiment, researchers at Pfizer tested Nirmatrelvir's effectiveness in inhibiting an enzyme in the virus called "Protease" -- an enzyme needed for virus replication -- and found that the drug inhibited Omicron protease as well as targeting the original virus. has the same effect.

In the second experiment, the antiviral activity against Omicron was consistent with what Pfizer observed on other variants of the virus.

A third experiment, conducted by researchers at the Elkon School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City in collaboration with Pfizer, measured the effectiveness of Nirmatrelvir against Omicron and other variants and found that similar concentrations were required to inhibit infection.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Paxlovid for use in people at high risk for severe illness. The drug differs from existing treatments in that newly infected people can take it at home to avoid hospitalization.

The current supply of Pfizer's oral drugs is still limited. Pfizer expects to manufacture about 7 million courses of Paxlovid globally this quarter and 120 million by the end of the year.

(Source: Compiled from Online Information)