Albert Bourla, the CEO of American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, expressed his confidence that the antiviral pill "Paxlovid," developed by the company for COVID-19 treatment, is effective against the new variant, Omicron. The Paxlovid treatment is based on the property of inhibiting an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate. Bourla stated, "The good news regarding our treatment is that it was designed with the understanding that most of the virus's mutations occur in its external spike proteins, which gives me a very high level of confidence that the treatment will not be affected by these mutations."
In an interview with CNBC, Bourla mentioned that Pfizer now expects to manufacture 80 million treatment courses, an increase from the company's original goal of producing 50 million courses. The U.S. government has already purchased 10 million courses in a deal worth $5 billion. Earlier this month, Pfizer submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of the pill.
In a clinical trial involving individuals aged 18 and older, Pfizer found that its drug reduces hospitalizations and deaths by 89% when taken with a widely used HIV medication within three days of symptom onset. The pill is administered alongside ritonavir, an HIV medication that slows human metabolic processes, allowing Pfizer's drug to remain active in the body longer to combat the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned in a technical report published on Monday that Omicron poses a "very high" global risk with a significant likelihood of transmission. This variant has over 30 mutations on its protein that binds to human cells, and some mutations are associated with increased transmission and reduced antibody protection, according to the WHO.
While Bourla is optimistic about Paxlovid's effectiveness, he noted that the impact of Omicron on the company's two-dose vaccine is still unclear. He stated, "I don't think the result will be that vaccines do not protect," adding, "I think the outcome might be, which we do not know yet, that vaccines provide less protection." Bourla also mentioned that Pfizer has already begun working on a new vaccine if necessary, and the company submitted the first DNA model of the variant last Friday, marking an initial step in the development process. He reiterated, "We have indicated several times that we will be able to obtain the vaccine in less than 100 days," noting that the company was able to create vaccines for the Beta and Delta variants quickly, even though they ultimately were not used as the original doses remained effective.
