Health

Fact Check: Pfizer is not developing an ivermectin-based treatment for COVID-19

According to the fact-checkers, just because the medicines have comparable functions and effects does not mean they are equal or interchangeable.

According to fact-checkers and health practitioners, Pfizer is not developing an ivermectin version to treat COVID-19.

According to Reuters, PolitiFact, Snopes, and Full Fact, a new oral treatment being developed by Pfizer is not a repackaged version of an antibacterial medication often used to prevent parasites in animals.

Just because the medications have similar functions and effects does not indicate they are equivalent or interchangeable, according to the fact-checkers.

In a statement, Pfizer said the new oral medication is not identical to that of animal treatment and does not have the same mechanism.

Health organisations have refused to approve ivermectin for COVID-19 treatment

According to Snopes, Pfizer’s new medicine is intended to prevent the action of the primary protease enzyme required for Coronavirus replication. Also, medical specialists claim the medications are completely distinct and have no link to one another.

Health organisations throughout the world have refused to approve ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19, and research on its possible usage have been inconclusive, as per FactCheck.org.

Differences between Pfizer’s antiviral drug and ivermectin

Pfizer’s medicine has protease inhibitor action like ivermectin, but they are very different on a variety of levels, Dr Cheryl Walter, a virologist from the University of Hull, was quoted as having told Reuters.

PF-07321332 is a ‘direct-acting antiviral medication,’ whereas ivermectin ‘has many methods of action on animal and human cells, as well as some serendipitous antiviral activity,’ according to Dr Walter.

According to Dr William A Petri, professor of infectious diseases at the University of Virginia, the two medications have no association at all. “The only thing they have in common is that they’re both tablets,” Petri explained to The Associated Press.

While Dr Kevin J. Downes, assistant professor of paediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, added that they are significantly different molecules. The structure and molecular size of the medications are different, he said.

UK signs agreement for Pfizer’s antiviral medications

The UK government said earlier this week that it has signed agreements for two COVID-19 antiviral medications, one created by Merck and the other by Pfizer, that may be used to treat patients by the end of the year if regulatory permission is given.

These new antiviral medications, however, are not the same as Ivermectin, which is not licenced for COVID therapy in the UK, despite assertions on social media.

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Aasif Ganaie

Aasif is a journalist and a news enthusiast based in Jammu & Kashmir. He voyages to explore and uncover the stories More »
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