Nonsense... "decreases hospitalization and death by over 90%."
A play on numbers, that of course, the media jumps on.
They only tested 300 people.
With a virus with such a very low morbidity rate, and very low severe rate - 300 will tell you exactly nothing.
Big Pharma would like nothing more than to be able to push experimental drugs into the market with limited to no real testing.
And here we have the media - putting this out as "good news" - "promising"
FFS - this is a money play by Pfizer. 300 people??? That is a joke.
The following article hints at this as well about not jumping too quickly comparing the results of Pfizer‘s 89% reduction claim versus a 50% reduction claim by Merck. Merck’s anti-viral is ahead of Pfizer’s in approval status.
I’ll consider Merck’s factual until further data are released. The main reason I trust Merck’s data (at least with respect to this coronavirus) is the fact that their own testing to go for a vaccine for SARS2 was determined to be futile so they chose not to produce one.
Merck says its drug, molnupiravir, stops viral replication and can be taken right after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
www.sciencenews.org
While the Pfizer pill showed an 89% reduction in hospitalization or death in high-risk Covid-19-infected individuals, and Merck’s showed a 50% reduction, “
we can’t yet compare the two until the risk profile of the patients is clearer,” according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli.
Similar words stand out from a similar statement made here:
“Merck said 12% of patients receiving its drug and 11% of placebo patients experienced drug-related adverse events.
“Drugs in the same class as Merck's pill have been linked to birth defects in animal studies. Merck has said similar studies of its drug - for longer and at higher doses than used in humans - show that it does not cause birth defects or cancer.”
“Trial figures provided by the two companies suggest that Pfizer has the more effective pill,”….with 20% side effects from small size study (less than half the study size compared to Merck’s).
Merck says its drug, molnupiravir, stops viral replication and can be taken right after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
www.sciencenews.org
But consumers don’t fret! Scientists are fervently working on a coronavirus pill that will kill all coronaviruses of all time including those in the future! They’ve already given a nickname: the dream vaccine.
The world craves an effective, risk-free vaccine against recalcitrant foes like AIDS and malaria. Creating mock infections with tiny rings of bacterial DNA may be the answer.
www.discovermagazine.com
