COVID-19 pills: when are they used and where are they available?

Two years after the first cases of COVID-19, the world already has some treatment alternatives for people already infected, in addition to vaccines, which serve to prevent serious cases and death.

Among the pills that have advanced the most are those developed by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and MSD, which work in different ways and at specific times of the disease. Next, the detail.

Pfizer’s Paxlovid

The US giant’s COVID-19 pill was urgently authorized on December 22 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the main US health agency.

(diabetic, obese, hypertensive or with a compromised immune system) from the age of 12. As is known, these groups are the ones with the greatest predisposition to developing a serious picture of COVID-19.

Pfizer’s treatment, marketed under the name Paxlovid, consists of a combination of two pills taken twice a day for five days, from diagnosis and within five days after symptoms appear, the FDA says.

The US laboratory drug allows it to be taken in the first five days after the onset of symptoms, according to clinical trials.

Paxlovid is a combination of two drugs – nirmatrelvir, an experimental medicine, and ritonavir, an existing antiviral used against HIV.

The one that the coronavirus needs to replicate. Ritonavir is given to slow down the breakdown of nirmatrelvir in the body, increasing its effectiveness.

Because Paxlovid does not work against the rapidly mutating proteins found on the surface of the coronavirus, scientists hope that it may be more resistant to the variants than other treatments, such as the antibodies used in most coronavirus vaccines.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on Monday that it began an evaluation of the request for use in the European Union of Pfizer’s anticovid pill, specifying that it could emit

In December, the European agency gave the green light for national authorities to allow the emergency use of this treatment called Paxlovid.

But the current procedure can give a broad authorization for the use of this compound in the 27 countries of the European bloc.

Molnupiravir from MSD

The US health authorities also urgently authorized treatment by Merck’s MSD laboratory for the.

In addition, this pill for covid, molnupiravir, has already been authorized in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Japan and Mexico.

Final studies showed that molnupiravir in people at risk.

The pill is taken within five days of the start of COVID-19 symptoms. Eight molnupiravir capsules are taken daily for five days, for a total of 40.

Molnupiravir causes errors in the genetic code of the virus, preventing it from replicating in the body. It is an oral medicine based on capsules that must be followed for five days.

The FDA insists that both Pfizer and Merck pills should be instead of replacing them, because they remain the primary tool in the fight against coronavirus.

Although both treatments are generally safe, clinical trials revealed, the Merck pill was not licensed for those under 18 years of age because it may affect the growth of bones and cartilage, nor is it recommended in pregnant women due to possible fetal harm.

Doctors are the ones who decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks in individual cases.

Are they available in Peru?

According to the most recent list of exceptional authorizations for pharmaceutical products from the General Directorate of Medicines, Supplies and Drugs (Digemid), updated as of December 31, 2021,

Agencies / Commerce

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