According to Pfizer, their new Covid-19 antiviral pill cuts the risk of hospitalisation or death by 89% in a late-stage trial. This creates a new potential tool in treating Covid-19 patients and combating the pandemic in general.
The American pharmaceutical company said on Friday that it will stop the trial because of the “overwhelming efficacy” and will submit the trial data for the drug to the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorisation as soon as possible.
Pfizer’s CEO, Albert Bourla, said in a statement that the results were “a real game-changer in the global efforts to halt the devastation of this pandemic”. The data reported from the study are more effective than the antiviral pill developed by the competitor Merck.
“It’s a quick efficacious solution … if you get diagnosed, you just take the pill and you’re back in action so the market loves it, the travel and leisure sector loves it and we love it.”
Thomas Hayes, managing member, Great Hill Capital LLC, New York
Travel stocks in general were the ones hit the most because of the Covid-19 pandemics. The news from Pfizer will give a much needed boost to the travel companies from airlines such as Delta Airlines to rental and vacation companies such as AirBnB.
Additional stocks that will benefit are booking companies such as Expedia and Bookings Holdings. Hotels and resorts such as Marriot International will also benefit from this new development.
Maybe the biggest beneficiaries will be the cruise operators such as Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian Cruise.
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