Chinese medical product regulators have given conditional approval to Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug, Paxlovid while Singapore has received the first batch of the pill.
Citing a report from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States (US), Paxlovid produced by Pfizer is a pill for oral use to treat mild or moderate symptoms of Covid-19 disease for adult patients and children aged 12 years and older.
Paxlovid contains 2 tablets of nirmatrelvir (an antiviral drug) and 1 tablet of ritonavir (a drug that maintains blood levels of nirmatrelvir for antiviral effectiveness) packaged together in 1 capsule.
Going back to the original story, even though China has approved the use of the drug, it is still unclear whether they have already discussed with Pfizer to import the pill.
Generally, China has not yet approved any Covid-19 vaccine developed by foreign drug makers.
Meanwhile, Singapore Health Minister Ong Ye Kung in a post on Facebook said they had received the first batch of the pills.
He added that the use of the pill will be given priority to anyone at high risk of severe Covid-19 disease.
So far, Pfizer expects sales of the drug to be worth US $ 22 billion in 2022, besides stating that it is in discussions with more than 100 other countries about Paxlovid.
According to Pfizer, the results of the final trial of treatment using the pill managed to reduce the chances of hospitalization or death by 89%.
