Pfizer says early studies of potential coronavirus treatment show promise

By Carl O'Donnell

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Thursday that early data has helped it identify a drug candidate with the potential to help treat patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

It also said it plans to support studies to determine whether existing Pfizer medicines, including its rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz, may provide benefits for those struggling with the COVID-19 respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

More than a dozen large drugmakers, including Pfizer, have announced plans in recent months to develop vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus, although few if any are likely to reach patients in time to stem the current outbreak.

Pfizer first revealed plans to try to develop an antiviral compound for COVID-19 in March, and later said it was working with BioNTech SE on a potential vaccine based on messenger RNA technology.

It also announced a five-point plan for confronting the virus that includes collaborating with outside companies and institutions on the research, development and manufacture of treatments.

"Pfizer has mobilized resources and capabilities to address every single frontier of the COVID-19 pandemic," Pfizer research chief Mikael Dolsten told Reuters in an interview.

Data from preclinical studies shows that a compound that was originally developed to treat SARS - a different coronavirus that caused a major epidemic in 2003 - has the potential to treat patients with the new coronavirus, Dolsten said.

Pfizer said it will conduct additional preclinical studies and aims to begin trials in humans in the third quarter of 2020.

Meanwhile, Pfizer will help fund a study into whether Xeljanz, which belongs to a class of drugs called JAK inhibitors and also treats the autoimmune disease ulcerative colitis, can help patients with pneumonia caused by COVID-19.

Rheumatoid arthritis treatments from other drugmakers that work differently than Xeljanz are also being studied as possible COVID-19 treatments.

Pfizer is also looking into the potential of other drugs that work on the immune system to help coronavirus patients, the company said.

The company is also working with the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine on two studies to better understand the relationship between coronavirus and pneumonia, which plays a role in many deaths caused by the virus that attacks the lungs.

Pfizer will also publish a review of research into whether its antibiotic azithromycin, sold under the brand name Zithromax, can play a role in treating COVID-19.

Azithromycin has been used with the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine by some doctors after a French study suggested the combination might benefit some COVID-19 patients.

(Reporting by Carl O'Donnell; Editing by Bill Berkrot)