Health Canada approves Pfizer antiviral COVID-19 pill

Health Canada has approved Pfizer’s antiviral pill treatment for COVID-19.

The authorization posted to the Health Canada website Monday morning says the treatment is greenlighted for adult patients with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are also at high risk of becoming more seriously ill.

Health Canada did not authorize it for use on teenagers or patients who are already hospitalized because of COVID-19.

Paxlovid is a treatment that uses a combination of drugs to prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from replicating once it has infected a person.

The pill will be available by prescription only. Pfizer has said trials have shown the drug can cut the chance of hospitalizations or death by 89 per cent in adults when taken shortly after initial symptoms.

Separate laboratory testing has also shown the drug retains its potency against the Omicron variant, the company added.

The federal government has preemptively placed an order for one million courses of the oral antiviral treatment. Pfizer submitted a rolling submission for authorization to Health Canada in December.


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Canada has also placed an order for a similar pill from pharmaceutical company Merck, though that drug has not yet been approved for use.

Trials for Merck’s COVID-19 drug late last year showed that treatment is able to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by 30 per cent in high-risk adults. Merck announced in December it had signed a deal to make its drug in Canada.

Shortly before that announcement was made, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration came out with its analysis of Merck’s experimental pill, saying it is effective against the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19, but that some questions remained about its safety.

New pills to fight COVID-19 may be a game changer in the pandemic and could ease pressure on the health-care system, which has once again seen immense strain due to the latest wave.

It’s unclear when exactly Canadians will have access to Paxlovid.

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