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Investing.com – Pfizer stock (NYSE:PFE) climbed 11% in Friday’s premarket trading after the pharma giant reported encouraging trial results for its antiviral pill against Covid-19.
Pfizer said that its drug, still under development, cuts the risk of severe disease by as much as 89%. There were no deaths reported in the trial group which received the drug rather than the placebo.
Pfizer’s results suggest it may be more effective than that of rival Merck (NYSE:MRK). Merck’s oral antiviral medicine molnupiravir indicated it reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by half.
Molnupravir was approved for emergency use in the U.K. this week, its first authorization to date.
Pfizer said it will approach the Food and Drug Administration soonest for approval for emergency use.
The drug is given in combination with an older antiviral called ritonavir. The combination treatment, branded Paxlovid, consists of three pills given twice daily.
The company said adverse events happened in about 20% of both treatment and placebo patients and said most of them were mild in intensity.
