Pfizer: "Paxlovid Shows Same Effectiveness Against Omicron Variant"

On the morning of the 14th, at a pharmacy in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, the oral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid was delivered, and a pharmacist is checking the quantity received. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] Experimental results have shown that Paxlovid, Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment, is equally effective against the new variant Omicron.

According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Pfizer announced on the 18th (local time) that this was confirmed after conducting three experiments on the oral treatment Paxlovid. The study has not been published in medical journals.

Pfizer tested nirmatrelvir, the main ingredient of Paxlovid, through three separate studies. In the first experiment, nirmatrelvir was confirmed to inhibit the protease enzyme at the same level against Omicron as before. In the second experiment, the antiviral activity against Omicron matched the activation levels observed in other variants such as Beta and Delta.

Additionally, in the third study conducted together with researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, the efficacy of nirmatrelvir required to block the Omicron variant and other variants was measured, showing similar concentrations.

Michael Dolsten, Pfizer's Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), emphasized, "These study results suggest that our oral COVID-19 treatment can be an important and effective tool in the ongoing fight against COVID-19, including highly transmissible variants like Omicron." There had been concerns that the new variant Omicron could neutralize some antibody treatments.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.