EU regulator conditionally approves Pfizer's COVID-19 pill

By Faruk Zorlu

ANKARA (AA) - The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday conditionally approved the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill for treating adults at risk of severe illness.

"EMA’s human medicines committee has recommended granting a conditional marketing authorisation for the oral antiviral medicine Paxlovid for the treatment of COVID-19," the EU agency said in a press statement.

The statement said that Paxlovid is recommended to use for treating COVID-19 "in adults who do not require supplemental oxygen and who are at increased risk of the disease becoming severe."

The study was conducted on patients, majority of whom were infected with the delta variant. The antiviral pill is also expected to be active against omicron and other variants, it said.

"Conditional marketing authorisation is used as the fast-track authorisation procedure to speed up approval of medicines during public health emergencies in the EU," it added.

The medicine reduces the ability of the virus to multiply in the body.