Malaysia to receive Pfizer’s COVID-19 pills in two weeks, says Health Minister
pharmafile | March 7, 2022 | News story | Sales and Marketing |
Khairy Jamaluddin, Health Minister of Malaysia, has shared that the country expects to receive its first shipment of Pfizer’s oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid, in two weeks. A total of 110,000 patients will receive the first batch of the antiviral.
The Health Minister has shared that the first phase of the procurement will be given to high-risk individuals. Jamaluddin also shared that if Paxlovid demonstrated expected efficacy, more courses of the drug would be purchased. He also shared that the country expected to receive two more drugs for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, one of which is the antiviral medicine, Molnupiravir, which inhibits the replication of coronavirus, decreasing disease severity.
“We have also consulted physicians to create the best clinical care pathways to treat those admitted with Covid-19 while reducing the mortality rate,” the Health Minister shared. “This has allowed us to push forward with recovery and shift the focus of public healthcare to non-COVID-19 cases as well.”
As of midnight on March 6, Malaysia reported 27,435 new COVID-19 infections, 254 of which were imported cases, 27,181 being local transmissions. Alongside this, a further 55 deaths were reported resulting from COVID-19, which brings the countries COVID-19 deaths to 33,228.
Paxlovid is an antiviral medicine which is used to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Paxlovid stops the virus from replicating in cells, stopping the virus from being able to multiply in the body and cause severe disease. This also helps the body fight the virus. The active substance in the pill, PF-07321332, is what blocks the activity of an enzyme needed by the virus to multiply.
Paxlovid also contains a low dose of the medicine ritonavir, which slows the breakdown of PF-07321332 in the drug, enabling it to remain in the body for longer, at levels that affect the multiplication of the virus.
Ana Ovey
