Enanta Pharmaceuticals Inc (ENTA)

[vinmantoo]

Quote:Pfizer to Seek U.S. Nod for Covid Pill After Strong Results
By Robert Langreth
November 5, 2021, 6:45 AM EDT Updated on November 5, 2021, 6:53 AM EDT

Drug reduced Covid hospitalizations by 89% in clinical trial
Covid pill race is heating up with Merck awaiting approval


Jbog, provided this Bloomberg article on the Biotech values web site. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-05/pfizer-to-seek-u-s-nod-for-covid-pill-after-strong-results?sref=XLA0GJqR

Two relevant passages from that from that link follow


Quote:
The drug, Paxlovid, binds to an enzyme called a protease to stop the virus from replicating itself. Some drugs for HIV work in a similar way.


The viral protease is the same target ENTA is attacking with EDP-235, which validates that approach.Quote:

The Pfizer drug works to block a crucial enzyme that the Covid-19 virus needs to replicate. It is taken twice a day for five days and used in combination with a second medicine called ritonavir that helps the Pfizer compound stay in the bloodstream longer.


So it is a twice a day combination oral drug whereas EDP-235 is a single oral drug and expected to be a once a day treatment regimen. The PFE drug will be a really nice advance but there is still plenty of room for EDP-235, well assuming it does well in trials.

DewDiligence corrected my dosing regimen comment for the PFE drug as it will required 6 pills a day.

You can see a comparison of the ENTA's drug vs the PFE drug for in vitro cell line data form the ENTA corporate presentation. See slide #19. The first column is ENTA's drug, EDP-235. The second column is the PFE drug. ENTA's drug looks a lot better, but keep in mind ENTA is behind as EDP-235 is slated to begin human trials in the beginning of next year.

https://s22.q4cdn.com/306858242/files/doc_presentations/2021/10/v2/Enanta-Corporate-Presentation-Final-10.19.21.pdf