The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday announced that it had granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to Pfizer’s oral antiviral Covid-19 drug Paxlovid
FDA officer-in-charge Oscar Gutierrez made the announcement on Friday’s “Laging Handa” briefing.
Paxlovid was approved for emergency use by the US FDA in December 2021.
According to the US FDA, Paxlovid should be available by prescription only and should be initiated as soon as possible after diagnosis of Covid-19 and within five days of symptom onset.
The US regulators found Paxlovid significantly reducing the number of people with Covid-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause by 88 percent.
Aside from Paxlovid, Gutierrez said the FDA had also approved Molenzavir, a brand of the anti-Covid-19 drug Molnupiravir.
“Masaya ko pong binabalita sa iyo na naaprubahan na po namin ang Paxlovid kahapon. At mayroon pong nadagdag na isang Molnupiravir na gamot, ito po iyong galing ng Bangladesh, Molenzavir po ang pangalan,” Gutierrez said.
“EUA po iyon, so, dalawa na po ang oral anti-viral treatment natin against Covid-19 – Paxlovid and Molnupiravir,” he added.
These oral anti-viral Covid-19 treatment medicines are not considered substitutes for Covid-19 vaccines. John Ezekiel J. Hirro