A pill called ensitrelvir prevented COVID-19 in people who were exposed to infected individuals, according to a new study.
Just 2.9 percent of people in a trial who received the pill contracted COVID-19, compared to 9 percent in a placebo group, researchers with the University of Virginia School of Medicine and other institutions said in a paper published by the New England Journal of Medicine that went over the study results.
The trial was randomized and double-blind in addition to being placebo-controlled.
It tested ensitrelvir, which is made by a Japanese company, in individuals who lived with people who contracted COVID-19. Household contacts of COVID-19 patients received either ensitrelvir for five days, or a placebo shortly after the contacts started showing COVID-19 symptoms. The contacts tested negative for COVID-19 at the start of the trial….