Britain widens access to Pfizer’s COVID anti-viral drug through trial

Britain will expand access to Pfizer’s oral anti-viral COVID-19 treatment to thousands more people by adding it to a trial to assess how best to use the drug in its highly vaccinated population, the health ministry said recently.

Paxlovid, a combination of Pfizer’s new pill with an older antiviral ritonavir, was made available to thousands of people with compromised immune systems in Britain in February.

Now, Paxlovid is being added to the Panoramic national study in England, which is making antivirals available to a wide number of patients while collecting data on how the drugs should best be used in a vaccinated adult population.

Britain has reported 170,000 deaths from COVID-19, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cited antivirals as part of his plan to learn to live with the virus, saying they can cut deaths among those who do not benefit as much from vaccine protection, such as the immunosuppressed.

“As we learn to live with COVID, the UK continues to lead the way in using cutting-edge treatments which have already saved the lives of many of the country’s most vulnerable patients,” Sajid Javid, Health Minister, said in a statement.

The Panoramic study is open to adults over age of 50 years, or those aged between 18 and 49 years, who have underlying health conditions that may put them at higher risk for severe COVID.

Paxlovid is the second antiviral to be added to the trial after molnupiravir, a pill made by Merck & Co and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics that did not perform as well in its pivotal clinical trial.

The health ministry said that 20,000 people had joined the Panoramic study to generate data on molnupiravir, with a further 17,500 people to be enrolled to access Paxlovid.