Treatment of symptomatic COVID-19 with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir linked to 89 percent lower risk for progression versus placebo<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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TUESDAY, March 1, 2022 (HealthDay News) — For patients with symptomatic COVID-19, treatment with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir results in a lower risk for progression to severe COVID-19, according to a study published online Feb. 16 in the New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>.<\/p>\n Jennifer Hammond, Ph.D., from Pfizer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, and colleagues conducted a phase 2 to 3 randomized controlled trial involving symptomatic, unvaccinated, nonhospitalized adults at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19. A total of 2,246 patients were randomly assigned to 300 mg nirmatrelvir plus 100 mg ritonavir or placebo every 12 hours for five days (1,120 and 1,126, respectively).<\/p>\n In the planned interim analysis of 774 patients treated within three days after symptom onset, the incidence of COVID-19-related hospitalization or death by day 28 was lower in the nirmatrelvir versus the placebo group (incidence, 0.77 percent [zero deaths] versus 7.01 percent [seven deaths]; relative risk reduction, 89.1 percent). In the final analysis involving 1,379 patients in the modified intention-to-treat analysis who commenced treatment within three days after symptom onset and did not receive monoclonal antibodies, efficacy was maintained, with a difference of \u00e2\u0088\u00925.81 percent (relative risk reduction, 88.9 percent). At day 5 of treatment, the viral load was lower with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir versus placebo, with an adjusted mean difference of \u00e2\u0088\u00920.868 log10<\/sub> copies\/mL when treatment was initiated within three days of symptom onset. Through day 34, there were no deaths noted in recipients of nirmatrelvir; there were 13 among placebo recipients.<\/p>\n “Treatment with nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir early in COVID-19 illness can decrease progression to severe disease and quickly reduce SARS-CoV-2 viral load,” the authors write.<\/p>\n Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, which manufactures nirmatrelvir and funded the study.<\/p>\n Abstract\/Full Text<\/a><\/p>\n