FDA Expected to Authorize Pfizer and Merck Covid Pills This Week

[Nevilledog]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-12-21/fda-expected-to-authorize-pfizer-merck-covid-pills-this-week?srnd= premium

No paywall
https://archive.ph/MaG0Q

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is poised to authorize a pair of pills from Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. to treat Covid-19 as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter -- a milestone in the fight against the pandemic that will soon expand therapies for the ill.

An announcement may come as early as Wednesday, according to three of the people. They asked not to be identified ahead of the authorization and cautioned that the plan could change.

Pfizer and Merck pared earlier declines on the news. Merck was trading down 0.7% at 10:43 a.m. in New York, while Pfizer was off 5.1%.

Pfizer’s pill, Paxlovid, and Merck’s molnupiravir are intended for higher-risk people who test positive for Covid. The treatments, in which patients take a series of pills at home over several days, could ease the burden on stretched hospitals with infections poised to soar through the winter in the U.S.

*snip*

[Bleacher Creature]

1. Will the Merck pill be the J&J of therapeutics?

The testing seems to suggest that the Pfizer pill is way more effective.