Key Facts

Key Background

Pfizer announced Friday it would stop enrolling new patients into its clinical trial for Paxlovid after an early analysis of trial data demonstrated the drug’s “overwhelming efficacy.” The company said the data suggests the pill, taken shortly after symptoms develop, cuts the risk of hospitalization or death from Covid-19 in high-risk patients by 89%. Paxlovid is on track to become the second antiviral Covid-19 pill on the market, following Merck’s molnupiravir, which was approved by British regulators in early November. Merck said trial data indicated molnupiravir halves the risk of hospitalization or death in high-risk groups. If approved, both pills would plug a large treatment gap for Covid-19, where there is a relative abundance of options to prevent infection or treat severe illness but few interventions for patients with mild illness outside hospital settings.

Tangent

Merck’s initial announcement of promising trial data for molnupiravir precipitated a similar collapse in the pharmaceutical stock market, particularly among vaccine makers heavily invested in Covid-19 shots. The announcement wiped $22 billion off Moderna’s market value by 11 a.m. EDT the same morning. More Covid-centric vaccine makers (Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca are much larger and have more diverse pipelines) like BioNTech and Novavax (whose Covid-19 vaccine is not approved in the U.S.) also fell 13% and 18%, respectively, at that time, around $12 billion in combined market value lost.

What To Watch For

When Pfizer has submitted data to regulators, they will consider whether to grant the drug emergency authorization. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to consider safety and efficacy data of Merck’s molnupiravir, which it developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, at the end of November. If approved, molnupiravir would be the first antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 on the U.S. market. After failing to meet the primary endpoint in a clinical study, the antiviral pill being developed by Roche and Atea Pharmaceuticals—originally seen as a competitor to Merck and Pfizer’s products—is set to be tested in groups more at risk from Covid-19, rather than the mostly young and healthy participants from the original trial. Results aren’t expected until late 2022.

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Via https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/11/05/billions-wiped-from-covid-pharma-heavyweights-including-moderna-regeneron-merck-as-pfizers-antiviral-pill-triggers-selloff/