New Covid Pills Are Needed as Much as Ever
Several drug companies are working on antivirals that promise to be easier to use.
We need a more choices for treating Covid.
Photographer: Kobi Wolf/BloombergEven as omicron infection rates plummet, preparations must be made for whatever Covid-19 throws at us next. The best-case scenario is that we live with an endemic virus that causes only mild infections in most people who are vaccinated. But the possibility remains that new variants will arise.
A good way to prepare for any eventuality is to develop new antivirals — ones that can be used more easily than the two existing Covid pills. A new wave of pills advancing into human studies this year could help build out the medicine cabinet. This week, Pardes Biosciences, a two-year-old biotech firm that went public in December, became the latest company to unveil early data for what it hopes will be a better drug.