The EU's drug regulator has given the green light to Pfizer's Covid-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid to be used on adults at risk of serious illness.
Member states can now deploy the drug with a number of countries that have already bought Paxlovid, including Germany and Italy.
Plaxovid is currently being developed at Pfizer's Irish plants in Ringaskiddy and Newbridge.
The antiviral drug is made up of two pills, nirmatrelvir and ritonavir.
A person will take two 150mg pills of nitmatrelvir and one 100mg tablet of ritonavir twice a day for five consecutive days.
Trial results show from over 2,200 high-risk adults with at least one underlying health condition show that Paxlovid reduced the chances of them needing hospital treatment by 89%, and reduced the viral load in their bodies by 90%.
697 people were given Paxlovid within three days after first showing symptoms. Only five ended up in hospital after 28 days, and not one person died.
682 people received a placebo with 44 of those needing hospital treatment and nine deaths.
The regulator said it was "granting conditional marketing authorisation for the antiviral, called Paxlovid, for adults with Covid who don’t require supplemental oxygen and are at risk of developing severe disease".
According to the Irish independent, Pfizer has told Government that the drug could be made available in Ireland by the end of January or the start of February.
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