Pfizer, American based multinational Drug manufacturer has confirmed that a large-scale study is being carried out to test Pfizer’s oral antiviral drug for the prevention of Covid-19 infection.

Its been internationally reported that Pfizer and other pharmaceuticals have been in the race to develop an easy-to-take antiviral pill for COVID-19.

Reuters reports that the mid-to-late stage study will test Pfizer’s PF-07321331 drug in up to 2660 healthy adult Participants Aged 18 and older. The participants will take the drug and test its efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection even as they live in the same household as a person with a confirmed symptomatic COVID-19 infection.

PF-07321332 is designed to block the activity of a key enzyme needed for the novel coronavirus to multiply and therefore spread. It will be administered along with a dose of ritonavir during the trial, which is an older medication that has been widely used in combination treatments for HIV infections.

Another study of PF-07321332 was started by Pfizer but in non-hospitalised symptomatic adult patients.

Till date, the intravenous drug remdesivir from Gilead Sciences Inc is the only approved antiviral treatment for COVID-19 in the US while molnupiravir, another experimental drug is being tested by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics in a late-stage trial for the prevention of COVID-19 infection.

Molnupiraviis is also being studied in no-hospitalised patients to see if it is able to reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death.

Pfizer has earlier announced that its BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines had shown to be “safe and generate a robust antibody response in children ages 5 to 11,” according to a statement by the drugmaker who had conducted a highly-anticipated trial to confirm the safety of the jabs in children.

2,268 participants aged 5 to 11 took part in the trial, which saw the use of a two-dose regimen of the vaccine administered 21 days apart. The trials use a 10-microgram dose which is notably smaller than the 30-microgram that has been used on children 12 and older.

Pfizer said the immunity levels compared well with older people who received the larger dose, demonstrating a “strong immune response in this cohort of children one month after the second dose.”