新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）Omicron病毒株肆虐全球，美国药厂辉瑞（Pfizer）1月18日称，其研发的口服药Paxlovid在实验中显示对Omicron有效。
《华尔街日报》报道，辉瑞的声明表示，该公司为Paxlovid的主要成份Nirmatrelvir进行三项不同实验，参与的病人每天服用2粒Nirmatrelvir及1粒抗病毒药物Ritonavir两次，整个疗程为五天。
辉瑞指，在其中一个实验中，研究人员测试Nirmatrelvir对抑制病毒内的蛋白酶（Protease）成效，结果发现该款药物抑制Omicron内的蛋白酶表现，与针对原始病毒株的效果相同。
而在另一个实验结果显示，Nirmatrelvir的抗Omicron病毒效果与Beta及Delta等病毒株相近。至于第三个实验则测试Nirmatrelvir对Omicron及其他病毒株的药效，发现需要相近剂量才可防止出现感染情况。
有关研究结果尚未经由同行评审，不过辉瑞首席科学总监多尔斯滕（Mikael Dolsten）认为，这些数据显示公司的口服药是打击包括拥有高度传染力的Omicron等病毒株的重要而有效的工具。
Today, Pfizer announced results from multiple laboratory studies which show that our #COVID19 oral treatment displays high in vitro efficacy against the #Omicron variant. Specifically designed to retain its activity across coronaviruses, this treatment works intracellularly by binding to the highly conserved main protease of SARS-CoV-2. Data from these three laboratory studies suggest it has the potential to maintain plasma concentrations many-fold times higher than the amount required to prevent Omicron from replicating in cells. These early findings may be critically important, as illnesses caused by the Omicron variant continue to spike and crowd hospitals around the world.
We will continue to monitor the treatment’s activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants and look forward to continuing to share updates. #ScienceWillWin