PFIZER ORAL COVID DRUG COULD BE READY NEXT YEAR

NEW YORK: Pfizer chief executive officer (CEO) Albert Bourla said that an oral drug for treating Covid-19 could be ready next year and that the US pharma giant is also working on an injectable antiviral.

Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla has announced that an oral drug for treating the coronavirus disease could be ready next year, adding that the company is working on two antivirals - an oral one and an injectable one.

“We are actually [working] on two [antivirals], one is injectable and the other one oral... Particularly the attention is on the oral [antiviral] for the world... because [it] provides several advantages. One of them is that you don’t need to go to the hospital to get the treatment, which is the case with all the injectables,” Bourla told CNBC, according to a Hill news report. Bourla said that “if all goes well, and if we implement the same speed and if regulators do the same, and they are, I hope that by the end of the year”, oral drug could be ready.

Vaccine passports in UK?

Britain is working on a digital Covid-19 vaccine passport as the move to restart travel in Europe gathers pace. The UK initiative, disclosed by transport secretary Grant Shapps, is based on a National Health Service (NHS) app, will help travellers prove they’ve had a jab or tested negative for the virus.