Paxlovid Becomes Household Name for Covid-19 Patients

The Covid-19 treatment from Pfizer Inc. has become the leading pandemic pill prescribed in the U.S., as supplies have improved and its availability at pharmacies widened.

Pfizer’s antiviral drug, called Paxlovid, totaled more than 412,000 prescriptions through May 6, compared with about 110,000 prescriptions of molnupiravir, an antiviral from Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics LP, according to drug-data firm Iqvia Holdings Inc.

Both pills were cleared for use in high-risk individuals early in the course of their disease in December by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to keep people from becoming hospitalized.

While separate clinical trials showed Pfizer’s drug to be 88% effective at preventing hospitalization compared with 30% by the Merck-Ridgeback drug, supply of Paxlovid was scarce at the beginning.