Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla is predicting a COVID-19 antiviral drug could be availably by the end of the year if “all goes well.”
Bourla said during an appearance on CNBC the focus is on the oral because “it provides several advantages.”
“One of them is you don’t need to go to the hospital to get the treatment, which is the case with all the injectables so far, you could get it at home. That could be a game-changer,” Bourla said.
He explained the antiviral drug should be “way more effective against multiple variants.”
Watch part of his interview below:
"Particular attention is on the oral because it provides several advantages," $PFE CEO @AlbertBourla on working on a #COVID19 cure in pill form. "One of them is you don't need to go to the hospital to get the treatment … you could get it at home. That could be a game-changer." pic.twitter.com/PMTUUAlmfI
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 27, 2021
Bourla said the company will have more news around the summer.
Touching on when it will become available, Bourla said, “If all goes well and we implement the same speed that we did so far, and we are, and if regulators also do the same, and they are, I hope by the end of the year.”
Watch more of his comments below:
"If all goes well … I hope by the end of the year" says @pfizer CEO @AlbertBourla on when a #COVID19 antiviral drug could be available. $PFE pic.twitter.com/PMEu1JObrA
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) April 27, 2021
Remdesivir is the only approved antiviral Covid-19 medicine in the United States. National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins said at a seminar, “We really, really need a bunch more.”
Pfizer, Roche and AstraZeneca are among the companies testing antivirals in pill form.
Antiviral drugs could prove to be critical in the fight against COVID-19 considering not everyone is willing to get vaccinated.
As of Monday, more than 230 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and over 290 million have been distributed.
