Pfizer

वाशिंगटन- अमेरिकी दवा निर्माता कंपनी फाइजर ने कहा है कि कोविड के खिलाफ बनाई गई उसकी टेबलेट पैक्सलोविड के परीक्षण के अंतिम नतीजे दर्शाते हैं कि यह मरीजों के अस्पताल में भर्ती होने या गंभीर मरीजों में मौत के जोखिम को कम करने में 89 प्रतिशत कारगर है। कंपनी के ये जांच परिणाम उसके पिछले माह 1200 लोगों पर किए गए अंतरिम नतीजों की पुष्टि करते हैं और अंतिम नतीजों में 2246 मरीजों पर किए गए परीक्षण शामिल हैं जिन्हें चार नवंबर को शोध में शामिल कि या गया था। कंपनी ने यह भी कहा है कि पैक्सलोविड कोरोना के अधिक परिवर्तित ओमिक्रोन के खिलाफ भी कारगर है। फाइजर के मुख्य कार्यकारी अधिकारी और अध्यक्ष अल्बर्ट बोरूला ने बताया कि हमारे नतीजे साबित करते हैं कि अगर इस दवा को उपयोग की अनुमति दी जाती है तो यह लोगों की जान बचाने में काफी कारगर साबित होगी। यह दवा कोरोना मरीजों के अस्पताल में भर्ती होने और उनमें मौत के खतरे को कम करती है। यह ओमिक्रोन के खिलाफ भी प्रभावी पाई गई है। कंपनी ने दूसरे क्लीनिकल परीक्षण के शुरूआती नतीजे भी जारी किए हैं जिसमें मध्यम जोखिम वाले 600 मरीजों में अस्पताल में भर्ती होने का जोखिम 70 प्रतिशत कम पाया गया था। कंपनी को उम्मीद है कि इसे जल्दी ही फूड एंड ड्रग एडमिनिस्ट्रेशन की तरफ से मंजूरी मिल जाएगी। इस दवा का पूरा कोर्स पांच दिन का है जिसमें तीन गोलियों दो बार लेनी पड़ती हैं और दो गोलियां वायरस निरोधक निरमाट्रेलविर हैं तथा तीसरी गोली वर्तमान में एचआईवी संक्रमण में दी जाने वाली रिटोनाविर है। (एजेंसी) यह भी पढ़े► ओमिक्रॉन अप्रत्याशित तरीके से फैल रहा है: डब्ल्यूएचओ

Washington, Sep 6 (IANS) US drug maker Pfizer aims to roll out smaller packages of its Covid-19 vaccine for public health departments and care providers by October, media reports said.Pfizer is working on smaller packing options, the drug maker said in a statement to CBS News.The change can help increase the availability of vaccines in smaller, more rural areas and decrease the number of wasted doses.Currently, Pfizer's mRNA Covid vaccine is available in two packages: one with 450 doses and another with 1,170. But the vaccine's cold storage requirement limits where and for how long they can be kept, making it challenging for smaller facilities to store high quantities of the vaccine without wasting doses.The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last month, updated the immunisation partners of the potential change -- revealed a document obtained by CBS News.While the CDC document did not specify what the new packaging would entail, it told partners to "stay tuned for more details".The change could allow shipments to go directly to doctor's offices, Dr Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Officers, was quoted as saying.Presently, doses meant for locations without sufficient storage capabilities are often siphoned off from a larger facility where they're held to reduce waste, the report said.More than 14.5 million doses have been wasted so far, roughly 3.4 per cent of all delivered doses, a CDC spokesperson said last week.Jabs delivered in multidose vials, like the Covid-19 shots, typically have a waste rate of 5-15 per cent, the spokesperson added.Meanwhile, Pfizer's booster shot is likely to get US Food and Drug Administration and CDC approval for a rollout by September 20. Moderna may get delayed.As of now, an additional dose of either Pfizer or Moderna has been authorised for Americans who are immunocompromised. More than 1.3 million such immunocompromised individuals have received an additional shot, according to the CDC.--IANSrvt/vd

New York, Aug 18 (IANS) Despite causing a surge in infections that has resulted in thousands of hospitalisations and deaths, the Delta variant of Covid-19 is not particularly good at evading the antibodies generated by the Pfizer vaccine, according to a study.The findings, published in the journal Immunity, help explain why vaccinated people have largely escaped the worst of the delta surge.Researchers at Washington University in the US extracted antibody-producing cells from three people who had received the Pfizer vaccine. They grew the cells in the laboratory and obtained from them a set of 13 antibodies that target the original strain that began circulating last year.The researchers tested the antibodies against four variants of concern: alpha, beta, gamma and delta. Twelve of the 13 recognised alpha and delta, eight recognised all four variants, and one failed to recognise any of the four variants.Five of the 13 antibodies neutralised the original strain. When the team tested the neutralising antibodies against the new variants, all five antibodies neutralised delta, three neutralised alpha and delta, and only one neutralised all four variants."The fact that delta has outcompeted other variants does not mean that it's more resistant to our antibodies compared to other variants," said Jacco Boon, Associate Professor of medicine, of molecular microbiology and of pathology and immunology at the University's School of Medicine in St. Louis.The antibody that neutralised all four variants of concern -- as well as three additional variants tested separately -- was called 2C08. In animal experiments, 2C08 also protected hamsters from disease caused by every variant tested: the original variant, delta and a mimic of beta.Some people may have antibodies just as powerful as 2C08 protecting them against SARS-CoV-2 and its many variants, said Ali Ellebedy, Associate Professor of pathology and immunology, of medicine and of molecular microbiology, at the varsity.Using publicly available databases, the researchers discovered that about 20 per cent of people infected or vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 create antibodies that recognise the same spot on the virus that is targeted by 2C08. Moreover, very few virus variants (.008 per cent) carry mutations that allow them to escape antibodies targeting that spot."The ability of a variant to spread is the sum of many factors. Resistance to antibodies is just one factor. Another one is how well the variant replicates. A variant that replicates better is likely to spread faster, independent of its ability to evade our immune response. So delta is surging, yes, but there's no evidence that it is better at overcoming vaccine-induced immunity compared to other variants," Boon said.--IANSrvt/dpb

Hong Kong, Aug 17 (IANS) The risk of rare Bell's palsy after taking Pfizer's Covid vaccination is very less, finds a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, suggesting that the protective effects of the vaccines far outweigh the risk.Bell's palsy is the sudden onset of one-sided facial paralysis. In the majority of cases (70 per cent), the condition resolves itself within six months without treatment and the chance of recovery is even higher (90 per cent) if patients receive early treatment with corticosteroids.Researchers at the University of Hong Kong analysed cases of Bell's palsy related to the two approved vaccines in Hong Kong -- China's CoronaVac and US-based Pfizer.The team found that for every 100,000 people vaccinated with China's inactivated vaccine CoronaVac, an additional 4.8 people may develop the condition, but for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the increased risk was equivalent to an additional 2 cases per 100,000 people vaccinated.For the study, the team included 298 Bell's palsy cases and 1,181 matched controls from 2010-2020.The team estimated the background risk of Bell's palsy in Hong Kong -- around 27 cases per 100,000 people, per year. Global estimates range from 15-30 cases per 100,000 people, per year.The study found that receiving CoronaVac was associated with 2.4 times increased risk of Bell's palsy (95 per cent) whereas receiving Pfizer vaccine was not associated with a significantly increased risk."Our study suggests a small increased risk of Bell's palsy associated with CoronaVac vaccination. Nevertheless, Bell's palsy remains a rare, mostly temporary, adverse event. All evidence to date, from multiple studies, shows that the beneficial and protective effects of the inactivated Covid-19 vaccine far outweigh any risks," said lead author Professor Ian Chi Kei Wong, from the varsity."Ongoing surveillance, through pharmacovigilance studies such as ours are important to calculate with increasing levels of confidence the risks of rare adverse events," Wong added.However, the team noted that the study is limited to patients with a new diagnosis of Bell's palsy in Hong Kong, so further studies in other regions should be done to confirm the findings.The US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) does not consider a clear causal association between the condition and vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and the Moderna, but recommends ongoing surveillance. Acute partial facial paralysis is reported as a rare side effect of both vaccines by the European Medicines Agency.--IANSrvt/vd