The Promise Of Paxlovid

If Pfizer’s Covid-19 treatment is to help end the pandemic, more nations need rapid access

- Cynthia Koons, Rebecca Penty, and Rick Schine

When Pfizer Inc. revealed the efficacy of its Covid pill last November, the excitement was palpable. Scientists hailed Paxlovid as a breakthrough. World leaders raced to lock up supplies. But just three months into the rollout, optimism about the drug’s ability to help bring a swift end to the pandemic is waning, as fears mount that unequal distribution will exacerbate the challenge of getting the virus under control.

It’s too soon to say whether this will end up being as inequitable as the botched vaccine deployment. Mass quantities of the therapy may take more than a year to become available because of production and regulatory hurdles, according to drug experts. After wealthy nations snapped up a large share of initial supplies of Paxlovid, which slashed the risk of hospitalization and death from Covid- 19 by 89% in clinical trials, many low- and middle-income countries are facing a potentially long wait for generic versions.

“We’ve already had those discussions with vaccines,” says Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, a doctor and researcher in Kenya with the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, a nonprofit. “It’s quite unfortunate that we need to have them again.”

With thousands of Covid deaths a day, time is the one thing the world doesn’t have. Whenever the virus starts to subside, new variants or subvariants pop up, causing fresh spikes in cases. Knowing the critical role Pfizer’s drug could play in quashing the virus, health organizations, researchers, and companies are working to accelerate Paxlovid production beyond what is currently forecast and bring down the high cost of manufacturing.