FDA grants EUA for Pfizer COVID-19 pill Paxlovid

The Food and Drug Administration has granted an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's antiviral pill Paxlovid, Director Oscar Gutierrez announced Friday.

"Masaya ko pong ibinabalita sa inyo na naaprubahan na po namin ang Paxlovid kahapon (I am happy to announce that we approved Paxlovid yesterday)," Gutierrez said at the Laging Handa briefing.

"So dalawa na po ang oral antiviral treatment natin (so we now have two oral antiviral treatments) against COVID-19: Paxlovid and molnupiravir," he later added.

Clinical trials showed that Paxlovid reduces hospitalization and deaths among at-risk people by almost 90 percent when it was taken in the first few days after symptoms appear.

Bexovid, the generic and more affordable version of Paxlovid, was granted a compassionate special permit in January.

Meanwhile, Gutierrez said the FDA also approved another drug from Bangladesh.

"At meron pong nadagdag na isang molnupiravir na gamot. Ito po ay galing ng Bangladesh. Molenzavir po ang pangalan," he said.

(We also have an additional molnupiravir drug. This is from Bangladesh. It's called Molenzavir.)—AOL, GMA News