Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) shares rise slightly Wednesday, on initiating a Phase 2/3 study, EPIC-PEDS ( E valuation of P rotease I nhibition for C OVID-19 in Ped iatric Patient s ), to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of Pfizer’s PAXLOVID™ in non-hospitalized, symptomatic, pediatric participants with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 who are at risk of progression to severe disease.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 11 million children under the age of 18 in the United States alone have tested positive for COVID-19, representing nearly 18% of reported cases and leading to more than 100,000 hospital admissions,” said Chief Scientific Officer Michael Dolsten.
“PAXLOVID is already authorized or approved in many countries around the world, with more than 1.5 million treatment courses delivered thus far and 30 million expected by July to help combat this devastating disease. We are proud to expand studies of our novel COVID-19 treatment to include pediatric participants to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of this treatment in this important population.”
Pfizer is also working to develop an age-appropriate formulation for three additional planned cohorts of younger than 6 years old and will enroll the trial to include these younger age groups as data from Cohorts 1 and 2 and the new formulation are available.
PFE shares acquired $1.10, or 2.2%, to $48.54.