Health

China approves Pfizer’s Paxlovid tablets to treat Covid patients

Beijing, Feb 12 (EFE).- China’s medical products regulator announced Saturday that it has given conditional approval for the use of Pfizer’s Paxlovid oral Covid-19 treatment.

Paxlovid tablets will be used to treat adults with mild to moderate symptoms of Covid-19 who have high risk factors for progression to severe disease, the National Medical Products Administration said.

Pfizer has said the drug, which has been given emergency authorization in the United States and other countries, reduces the risk of hospitalization and death by about 90 percent compared to placebo in high-risk patients when treated within five days of symptom onset.

The medicine contains two active ingredients, PF-07321332 and ritonavir.

The first reduces the ability of the virus to replicate in the body, while the antiretroviral protease inhibitor ritonavir slows the breakdown of PF-07321332 to allow it to remain active in the body for longer, Pfizer said.

The pharmaceutical company assured in January that laboratory studies of Paxlovid showed that it is effective against the Omicron variant.

Covid-19 first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and the country has not imported any foreign-made vaccines. EFE

jco/tw

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