The Biden administration plans to spend $5 billion to acquire 10 million doses of Pfizer's new COVID-19 pill. White House officials said they believe the treatment may significantly improve the country's coronavirus situation by reducing severe symptoms and deaths.
Sources with knowledge in the matter said Tuesday that White House and Pfizer officials are currently finalizing the details of the deal. Pfizer is also currently negotiating with federal regulators for the authorization of its five-day antiviral treatment.
Pfizer has reportedly also agreed to a license-sharing agreement that will allow the tablet to be manufactured all over the world and marketed at lower prices in developing nations. Even as Pfizer rejects calls to offer poorer nations access to its coronavirus vaccine formula, the corporation claims that the deal could give more than half of the world's population access to the therapy.
Pfizer's pill, called Paxlovid, is the country's second COVID-19 treatment to be reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. The first was a treatment submitted by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, which is still pending approval. Merck and Ridgeback have also agreed to share the license and technology for their covid-19 antiviral pill, molnupiravir.
Biden officials reportedly see both treatments as potential game-changers in helping to restore a sense of normalcy as the pandemic approaches its second year. With outbreak cases on the rise and 30% of individuals not completely vaccinated, health experts believe the tablets will aid in containing the pandemic by preventing the virus's most harmful effects.
Pfizer claims that Paxlovid, when given to those at high risk of severe disease within three days of when symptoms start, will lower the probability of mortality and hospitalization by 89%. The treatment's clinical study was called off early due to strong evidence that the medicine was effective in muting COVID-19 symptoms.
Pfizer is requesting that the FDA approve its pill for those who are at a higher risk of hospitalization due to their age or because of underlying medical issues. People who were unwell after being vaccinated were excluded from the clinical trial, but the FDA will decide who is eligible for the medicine and how it should be administered.
Pfizer said it is already starting to produce Paxlovid enmass, which may be accessible in limited numbers as soon as the FDA approves it. Pfizer estimates that it will have enough pills to treat 100,000 to 200,000 individuals by the end of the year, with millions more expected to be available in the first part of next year.
