The oral drug could be a promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic, as it can be taken as an early at-home treatment to help prevent Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths.

Pfizer on Tuesday filed for US authorisation of the drug, paxlovid, and said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of next month and at least 50 million courses by the end of 2022.

“This promising treatment could help accelerate our path out of this pandemic by offering another life-saving tool for people who get sick with Covid-19,” said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the US department of health and human services.

The company earlier this month said the drug cut by 89% the chance of hospitalisation or death for adults at risk of severe disease.

The trial’s results suggest that Pfizer’s drug surpasses Merck & Co Inc’s pill, molnupiravir, which was shown last month to halve the chance of dying or being hospitalized for Covid-19 patients at high risk of serious illness.

The US government has also signed a contract worth US$2.2 billion for courses of the Merck drug.