Pfizer pill: Final data shows it to be 90% effective

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Recent laboratory data also shows that the drug retains its effectiveness against the rapidly spreading Omicron mutation of the coronavirus.

The U.S. pharmaceutical company said last month that the pill was about 89% effective in preventing illness or death compared to placebo based on provisional test results in about 1,200 people.

The figures released Tuesday include an additional 1,000 people.

No one in the Pfizer trial died, compared with 12 deaths among those taking a placebo.

Pfizer pills are taken in combination with the older ritonavir antiviral every 12 hours for five days, with administration starting shortly after the onset of symptoms. If this pill is approved, the treatment will be sold as Paxlovid.

Pfizer also published early data from a second clinical trial showing that treatment reduced hospitalizations by about 70% in about 600 typical at-risk adults.

[With information from Reuters]