WHO Backs Pfizer’s Oral COVID-19 Therapy for High-Risk Patients

COVID-19 treatment pill Paxlovid in a box at Misericordia hospital in Grosseto, Italy, on Feb. 8, 2022. Jennifer Lorenzini/Reuters

The World Health Organization (WHO) on April 21 endorsed the use of Pfizer Inc.’s oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment in high-risk patients after an analysis of trial data by the U.N. agency showed the therapy dramatically cut the risk of hospitalization.

Of existing COVID-19 treatments, Pfizer’s Paxlovid is by far the most potent, the WHO said.