TOKYO, Feb 10 (BUS): Japan has given rapid approval for US drug-manufacturer COVID-19 pills, Pfizer Inc. , as the country struggles to slow the spread of oomicron infection.
The approval came less than a month after Pfizer implemented in mid-January, an extraordinary speed in a country where approvals for foreign drugs take longer, according to the Associated Press.
Health Minister Shigeyuki Goto said the availability of Pfizer’s Paxlovid pills gives high-risk patients, including the elderly and those with underlying health problems, greater treatment options.
The approval comes as rising cases among elderly patients are beginning to take over hospitals in Tokyo and other metropolitan areas, and delayed booster vaccines have reached only about 8% of the population.
Most of Japan’s 47 prefectures are currently under a mild version of the state of emergency. On Friday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced plans to extend existing restrictions in Tokyo and 12 other regions for another three weeks until March 6.
Japan relies on oral treatments to help reduce serious cases and deaths, and Kishida said the government has secured 2 million doses of Pfizer’s pills. Goto said distribution of Pfizer’s pills will begin on Monday.
Pfizer pills, a combination of the antiviral drugs nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, are the second oral treatment for COVID-19 approved by Japan, after the antiviral pill Molnupiravir from Merck & Co.
Shionogi & Co. The Japanese are also in the final stage of clinical testing of their own tablets. The company plans to supply 1 million doses this year.
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