Two COVID-19 antiviral pills are now very close to becoming available and are bringing claims by the national and international media that a ‘proven oral treatment’ will soon be available to quell the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Pfizer’s PF-07321332, in combination with the HIV antiviral ritonavir, is well into Phase 3 testing as a treatment for people who are infected with SARS-CoV-2, but who are less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19.
Last month, Merck & Co. with partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced they were nearing the end of a Phase 3 trial of their proprietary pill, molnupiravir, as a treatment for people who are in early infection. The firms announced weeks ago that they enrolled uninfected people who live with someone who is COVID-19 positive in a Phase 3 trial to test the small molecule’s ability to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection.
This week, the pair of companies announced they are seeking emergency use authorization in the U.S. for molnupiravir, moving the pill closer to becoming the first oral antiviral treatment for Covid-19.
An application was submitted with the Food and Drug Administration for the drug to treat mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults, the companies said in a statement Monday.
According to the New York Times, a five-day course of molnupiravir will cost about $700 per patient. Merck said that it expects to make 10 million treatment courses by the end of 2021, with more doses to be produced in 2022. The first few million treatments will rack up billions for the partnership duo.
Amid recent pushes for mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for all age groups regardless of risk, recommendations for mandatory booster shots every 5 months, and now expensive pills for treatment, many are accusing the pharmaceutical industry of profiteering.
Following podcaster Joe Rogan’s claim that he quickly recovered from COVID-19 by using ivermectin, several national news outlets criticized Rogan, falsely accusing him of promoting a ‘dangerous horse dewormer.”
According to hundreds of studies on the efficacy of alternative treatments for COVID, Ivermectin is scientifically proven to show a high success rate in early improvement.
In a recent study of over 200 healthcare workers, after 28 days of follow-up, significant protection of ivermectin preventing the infection from SARS-CoV-2 was observed.
Health care workers received 0.2mg/kg of Ivermectin once weekly for 28 days, while 271 health were assigned to a control group (no Ivermectin). At the end of the study, the authors concluded that Ivermectin reduced the risk of COVID infection by 74%.
The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh recently claimed that it was the first state to have introduced a large-scale “therapeutic” use of Ivermectin, adding that the drug led to a dramatic reduction in the fatality rate as compared to other states.
Ivermectin is historically inexpensive. Oral tablets are usually around $3 per tablet, depending on the country and pharmacy you visit. Ivermectin’s average U.S. retail price is around $5 per generic tablet.
Recently, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia officially banned doctors from prescribing ivermectin for COVID-19.
The three reasons given for the TGA’s decision were revealing. “Firstly, there are a number of significant public health risks associated with taking ivermectin,” begins the statement.
The statement continues:
“…in an attempt to prevent COVID-19 infection rather than getting vaccinated. Individuals who believe that they are protected from infection by taking ivermectin may choose not to get tested or to seek medical care if they experience symptoms.”
A fairly recent massive expert medical review shows that unless you have a high parasite load, Ivermectin is effectively safer than Tylenol. The study found no accidental Ivermectin overdoses including in infants and young children that had a lethal outcome, out of billions of doses given.
Additionally, the CDC currently recommends that the government require certain refugees to take Ivermectin in order to enter the US.
According to the first-quarter results published by Pfizer this week, its coronavirus jab has racked up billions for the biopharma giant in the first three months of 2021.
The financial results also revealed that Pfizer has vastly exceeded its Covid-19 vaccine sales forecast of $15bn, and now expects the jab to bring in over $30bn of revenue in 2021 – an increase of 73% on previously anticipated figures.
According to a recent report, Pfizer is planning on recommending their new twice-per-day COVID pill the company is developing alongside their proprietary vaccines.
“Success against COVID-19 will likely require both vaccines & treatments,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on Twitter recently. “We’re pleased to share we’ve started a Phase 2/3 study of our oral antiviral candidate-specifically designed to combat SARS-CoV-2-in non-hospitalized, low-risk adults.”
The CEO of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, when asked about when he foresaw the end of the pandemic, said that he does not see life going back to normal without regular vaccinations.
A recent scientific paper published in Nature offers one of the most comprehensive estimates of the number of Americans infected with COVID-19 by the end of 2020 at more than 100 million people. That’s equal to almost one-third of the U.S. population.
If this estimate is accurate, it is safe to assume that the more transmissible delta variant which became dominant this year, may have already infected around 100 million more Americans in 2021.
This would mean that almost 75% of the population already have a natural immunity to the virus, not counting those who were vaccinated. The numbers would also mean that the overall infection fatality rate is far lower than previously believed.
