TOKYO: US drugmaker Pfizer Inc said on Friday it has applied for Japanese government approval for its oral COVID-19 treatment.
The application is based on global Phase II/III trials that Japan was part of, Pfizer said in a statement.
With COVID-19 cases surging again, Japan is betting heavily on oral treatments to keep serious infections and deaths at bay.
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Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said last week he aimed to distribute the Pfizer pills next month after securing 2 million doses during a December call with Chief Executive Albert Bourla.
The government has already started distributing molnupiravir antiviral pills after agreeing to pay Merck & Co Inc and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics about $1.2 billion for 1.6 million courses. Japan's Shionogi & Co Ltd is working on its own pill, with plans to supply 1 million doses this year.
The highly infectious Omicron variant is driving a surge in COVID-19 cases. Japan recorded 18,859 new infections on Thursday, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK, the most since Sept. 2 during what was the country's fifth wave of the pandemic.
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