At the end of March, Pfizer launched a phase one trial of PF-07321332.

Mikael Dolsten, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer, said: `The fight against Covid-19 requires both prevention with vaccines and appropriate treatment for people infected with the virus. As nCoV is mutating and continuously affecting the entire

In early-stage testing, PF-07321332 was effective beyond expectations.

To date, tested antiviral drugs are relatively safe.

Based on these `encouraging results,` Pfizer advanced the drug in phase two and three trials, which took place in July. The company evaluated PF-07321332 in two courses: 5 days and 10 days of treatment in

After more than a year and a half of Covid-19 appearing and spreading rapidly globally, specific treatment drugs are still considered a vulnerability in the pandemic.

Covid-19 and variants remain a major threat to public health.

After the vaccine race, many pharmaceutical companies realized that this was the right time to shift direction in developing potential drugs, contributing to solving the pandemic and minimizing the burden on medical teams.

According to the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a partnership with more than 1,100 biotechnology companies and research schools around the world, 246 antiviral drugs are in development.

The drugs being researched by Pfizer, Merck, and Shionogi are considered three typical candidates in the `process of filling gaps in repelling the pandemic`.

America’s billion-dollar gamble

In early June, pharmaceutical company Merck revealed that the US government had agreed to buy 1.7 million doses of molnupiravir in the testing phase, a contract worth 1.2 billion USD.

The drug molnupiravir, developed by Merck in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, is said to be a `potential method of preventing and treating Covid-19`.

Molnupiravir drug tested to treat Covid-19 by pharmaceutical company Merck.

The molnupiravir trial has entered its final phase, after previous studies showed positive results.

Scientists hope for new drugs, for unvaccinated people in developing countries.

The experience of Daria Hazuda, vice president of infectious disease and vaccine research at Merck, with HIV and hepatitis C virus, helps her and her colleagues find that constant, while minimizing the risk of drug resistance.

Molnupiravir is taken as a pill, taken every 12 hours for 5 consecutive days.

Japan tests Covid-19 medicine, taking one pill a day

Pharmaceutical company Shionogi began clinical trials to determine the drug’s effectiveness and side effects in July. The trial lasts until 2022. According to Shionogi, the dosage of one pill a day will be more convenient for treatment.

The drug has the ability to inhibit the activity of an enzyme necessary to help nCoV replicate.

Shionogi aims for a product that mild Covid-19 patients can use right at home, in the early stages when the symptoms are still simple.

`Our goal is to create a drug that is as safe as tamiflu or xofluza,` said Isao Teshirogi, Shionogi’s chief executive officer.

Shionogi is several months behind Pfizer and Merck in researching new drugs to treat Covid-19.

A source from Shionogi said on August 6 that the company will apply for a drug license later this year.

The only medicine to treat mild infections (but still require hospitalization) in Japan is currently Chugai Pharmaceutical’s antibody mixture.