By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – Pfizer (NYSE:) stock traded 0.7% higher in Monday’s premarket as it continued its momentum from U.K.’s approval to the company’s Covid-19 pill, which boosts chances of the oral drug finding wider acceptance amid omicron surge.

According to the company, lab data suggest that the antiviral is still effective against omicron. This fast-spreading variant of coronavirus has been responsible for the high number of daily infections across many countries, including the U.S.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s nod came Friday. The pill already has the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval.

Company claims its antibiotic against infection is nearly 90% effective in keeping high-risk patients from dying and preventing their hospitalizations.

“We now have a further antiviral medicine for the treatment of Covid-19 that can be taken by mouth rather than administered intravenously. This means it can be administered outside a hospital setting, before Covid-19 has progressed to a severe stage,” an MHRA release quoted its Chief Executive June Raine as saying.

The at-home treatment can be prescribed to high-risk patients, 12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kg (88 lbs), who tested positive for Covid-19 — potentially helping patients avoid severe illness and reducing hospitalizations and deaths from the viral infection. 

Protease inhibitors block the activity of key enzymes that coronaviruses need to reproduce. Other viruses, such as HIV and hepatitis C can also be treated with protease inhibitors.