According to reports, Pfizer Inc. has started an early-stage trial of the oral COVID-19 antiviral therapy that could be prescribed to patients suffering from the coronavirus at the first sign of infection.
The company further informed that researchers in lab studies found that the antiviral candidate showed potent activity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Pfizer's candidate, named PF-07321332, is a protease inhibitor that prevents the virus from replicating in cells.
Moreover, protease inhibitors have been effective at treating other viral pathogens such as HIV and hepatitis C virus, both on their own and in combination with other antivirals.
Amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus, vaccine makers around the globe have ramped up their efforts in order to develop drugs that are a one-shot solution for the coronavirus. However, the number of new variants that have emerged in the last six months from Brazil, the UK, and South Africa are major concerns to populations across the map. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 positive cases across the world to date stands at 124,803,116 with 100,831,021 recoveries and 2,746,273 deaths.
On the other hand, earlier on January 3, the Drugs Controller General of India approved Covishield and Covaxin for restricted emergency use. Manufactured by the Serum Institute of India with technology transfer from Oxford University-AstraZeneca, Covishield is a Recombinant Chimpanzee Adenovirus vector vaccine with its overall efficacy of 70.42 per cent whereas Covaxin is a Whole Virion Inactivated vaccine for the coronavirus developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR and NIV.
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