Two oral Covid treatments are approved in Australia

Two pills to help treat Covid infections have been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for the first time in Australia.

The oral treatments, Paxlovid and Lagevrio, have been approved for adults who catch the virus and who are at risk of hospitalisation or death.

They are not to be given to be given to patients who require oxygen, the TGA said. 

‘Neither product is intended to be used as a substitute for vaccination against Covid-19,’ the TGA said.

‘Either medicine should be administered as soon as possible after diagnosis of Covid-19 and within 5 days of the start of symptoms.

‘Lagevrio is available as capsules, while Paxlovid comprise separate tablets of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir. In both cases, the medicines are taken twice a day for 5 days.’

Lagevrio works by inhibiting the replication of the virus and both treatments are not recommended for use in pregnant women or those breastfeeding.

Paxlovid, designed by Pfizer, works by blocking ‘the activity of a protease enzyme’ that Covid needs in order to replicate. 

‘Paxlovid  must also not be used with a number of other commonly used medicines, either because for some medicines this may lead to potentially harmful increases in their blood levels, or in the case of some other medicines they may reduce the activity of Paxlovid,’ the TGA said.

The treatment should also not be used in patients with severely reduced kidney or liver function. 

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the two treatments are expected to hit Australian shores in the coming weeks.

‘(They) will build on what we’re already doing through the intravenous or hospital treatments,’ he told the ABC. 

The government has secured access to 500,000 to Paxlovid treatments and 300,000 Lagevrio courses. 

More to come