(FILE) Health Secretary Francisco Duque III gives an update to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Arcadia Active Lifestyle Center in Matina, Davao City on August 30, 2021. JOEY DALUMPINES/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is already preparing for the procurement of Pfizer Inc.’s antiviral COVID-19 pill, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Friday.
Duque said Pfizer’s antiviral regimen, Paxlovid, has a high efficacy rate, compared to molnupiravir that was significantly less effective in cutting hospitalizations and deaths than previously reported.
“’Yung molnupiravir medyo mababa na ang kanyang efficacy, from 50 percent nasa 30 percent na lang daw ngayon habang dumadami ang real world data, ‘yung mga gumagamit. ‘Yung Paxlovid parang maganda, 89 percent ang efficacy and performance,” he told DZBB.
“Pinaghahandaan na ‘yan. Mayroong EUA ang FDA na ibinibigay para magamit ang antivirals na ito,” Duque added when asked if the country already has a supply of Paxlovid.
In a text message to INQUIRER.net, Food and Drug Administration Director-General Eric Domingo said Pfizer has yet to apply for the emergency use of its product.
The United States on December 22 authorized Paxlovid for at-risk people aged 12 and above. Pfizer, citing data from its clinical trials, said Paxlovid was nearly 90 percent effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths in patients at high risk of severe illness.
Meanwhile, Merck & Co said in November that updated data from its study of its experimental COVID-19 pill, molnupiravir, showed that the drug was less effective in cutting hospitalizations and deaths than initially reported.
The company said its pill showed a 30 percent reduction in hospitalizations and deaths based on data from 1,433 patients. In October, the pill showed a 50 percent efficacy based on data from 775 patients.