First Patient Gets Dose in Pfizer's Oral COVID-19 Drug Trial "If successful, we believe this therapy could help reduce severity of illness among a broad population of patients," Rod MacKenzie, Pfizer's chief development officer, said in a statement.

By The Epoch Times •

This story originally appeared on The Epoch Times

The first patient got dosed in a clinical trial analyzing Pfizer's oral COVID-19 drug, the company announced Wednesday.

The phase 2/3 study is analyzing a protease inhibitor currently known as PF-07321332. The drug is meant to combat COVID-19 in patients who experience symptoms from the disease but do not require hospital care.

The randomized, double-blind trial will enroll about 1,140 participants, approximately half of whom will receive a placebo. The participants will get the drug or the placebo every 12 hours orally for five days.

People who get the drug will also receive ritonavir.

"If successful, we believe this therapy could help reduce severity of illness among a broad population of patients," Rod MacKenzie, Pfizer's chief development officer, said in a statement.

The company already started a separate trial that's testing a different protease inhibitor. That one is administered via IV.

Inhibitors are a type of medicine that stop viruses from replicating.

No antiviral pills against COVID-19 have yet been developed. The IV-administered remdesivir, produced by Gilead Sciences, was approved by U.S. drug regulators last year.

Other companies are also attempting to produce the medicines, including Merck and Roche.

Merck already started a late-stage trial analyzing its pill candidate, dubbed molnupiravir. Interim results from a phase 2 trial for Roche's pill, AT-527, showed promising results, Roche and its partner Atea Pharmaceuticals said in July.

Pfizer has said that if its trial shows PF-07321332 is safe and effective, then it could ask regulators for authorization in the fourth quarter of this year.

By Zachary Stieber

Zachary Stieber covers U.S. news, including politics and court cases. He started at The Epoch Times as a New York City metro reporter.

The Epoch Times, founded in 2000, is headquartered in Manhattan, New York, with a mission to provide independent and accurate information free of political bias or corporate influence. The organization was established in response to censorship within China and a lack of global awareness regarding the Chinese regime's repression of the spiritual practice Falun Gong.

The Epoch Times is a widely read newspaper that is distributed in 33 countries and is available in 21 languages. The publication has been critical in providing balanced and detailed reporting on major global events such as the 2003 SARS pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis. Notably, the organization has played a key role in exposing corruption inside China.

Aside from its human rights coverage, The Epoch Times has made significant contributions in a variety of fields. It has received praise for its in-depth analysis and expert perspectives on business, the economy and U.S. politics. The newspaper has also received praise for its broad coverage of these topics.

A series of editorials titled "Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party" appeared in The Epoch Times in 2004. It asserts that freedom and prosperity in China can only be achieved by eliminating the Communist Party, which violated China's cultural and spiritual values. In addition, the organization led the Tuidang movement, which resulted in over 400 million Chinese citizens quitting the Communist Party. In spite of this, 90% of websites referring to the "Nine Commentaries" were blocked by the Chinese regime.

The Epoch Times has been at the forefront of investigating high-level corruption cases within the Chinese regime, with its reporters taking significant risks to uncover these stories. The organization has received several awards for its investigative journalism.

The organization has received several awards for its investigative journalism. For more, visit www.theepochtimes.com.

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