Pfizer, the company that developed the first authorized COVID- 19 vaccine in the US, announced that it began in March an early-stage clinical trial of a new medicine for the disease. The new drug is a protease inhibitor and works by inhibiting an enzyme that the virus needs to replicate in human cells. These types of inhibitors are already being used in treating HIV and hepatitis C.
According to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, if everything goes smoothly and the FDA approves the drug, it will hit the shelves by the end of the year.
From the health experts’ perspective, the ingestible drug could be a game-changer because infected people could use it outside hospitals.
Besides the news drug, Pfizer is testing its vaccine in 6-months to 11-year-old children, after the company received from the FDA the authorization to expand its vaccine usage to adolescents aged between 12 – 15.
The market seemed to react positively to the news. At the moment of writing, Pfizer stock price is trading 0.57% higher.
Sources: cnbc.com, finance.yahoo.com
