The UN health agency says Paxlovid is “strongly recommended” for patients with non-serious illness but who are at risk of hospitalization.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has backed Pfizer’s Paxlovid treatment for COVID-19 after studies showed the antiviral pill reduced the risk of hospitalizations in high-risk patients by 85 percent.
The WHO announced on Thursday that it issued a “strong recommendation” for the use of Paxlovid – a combination of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir – for people with mild and moderate COVID-19 but who are at risk of hospitalization, and named it the “best therapeutic choice for high-risk patients so far”.
The new recommendation followed two studies of nearly 3,100 patients that showed treatment with Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization by 85 percent, a potential reduction in hospitalizations in this group of 84 people per 1,000, it said.
Cases of COVID-19 continue to fall around the world, but the disease continues to take its toll on the elderly, those with pre-existing conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, and the unvaccinated. The WHO has added more drugs to its list of recommended treatments as the pandemic has progressed, supporting arthritis drug baricitinib in January as the Omicron variant surged.
In recommending Paxlovid, WHO expressed concern that low- and middle-income countries may struggle to obtain sufficient supplies of the drug.
“The WHO is extremely concerned that, as has happened with COVID-19 vaccines, low- and middle-income countries are again being pushed to the back of the queue for access to this treatment,” it said in a statement.
The agency noted a “lack of transparency in bilateral deals” from Pfizer and that while the US drugmaker had a licensing agreement with the Medicines Patents Pool, it limited the number of countries that would benefit from generic production of the drug.
In February, Pfizer announced that sales of the Paxlovid will reach $22 billion in 2022.
“WHO strongly recommends that Pfizer be more transparent about its pricing and operations and expand the geographic scope of its license with the Medicines Patent Pool to allow more generic companies to start manufacturing the drug and make it available more quickly at affordable prices,” it said called.
Pills like Paxlovid and Molnupiravir, made by competitor Merck, have been seen as a major advance in treating COVID-19 by allowing patients to take them at home.
But the course of treatment must also begin in the early stages of the disease, posing another challenge for low- and middle-income countries, whose testing rates are far below those of developed countries, the WHO added.
The UN agency also updated its guidance on remdesivir, which it had previously advised against using.
According to a new study, the WHO now suggests using the drug in mildly or moderately ill patients who are at risk of hospitalization. Remdesivir was developed by the US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences to treat Ebola.