Italy is likely to roll out coronavirus antivirals in form of pills after Christmas, Nicola Magrini, head of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), said
ROME (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th November, 2021) Italy is likely to roll out coronavirus antivirals in form of pills after Christmas, Nicola Magrini, head of the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), said.
According to the official, the oral treatment candidates under evaluation which were developed by US-based Merck&Co and Pfizer drugmakers, have shown promising preliminary results. Their assessment is expected to be completed in the coming weeks, Magrini noted.
"COVID pills may become available in the weeks after Christmas. We are making efforts to get these two drugs as soon as possible," Magrini told the Sky broadcaster late on Wednesday.
AIFA expects the European Medicines Agency to give its answer regarding the use of COVID-19 vaccines in children aged from 5-11 as early as November 29, assuming that anti-coronavirus injections might be administered annually in the future, he said.
The pills in question are Pfizer's Paxlovid, which showed an 89% reduction in hospitalization or lethal cases in high-risk patients during the interim analysis earlier this month; and Merck's molnupiravir, able to reduce COVID-19 hospitalization and death risks by 50% during the clinical trials last month.
On November 4, the United Kingdom became the first country to approve molnupiravir for use.
