Antiviral Covid treatment now available in the Netherlands for €1,250

The antiviral medication approved to treat Covid-19 is now available on the Dutch market, the Dutch Association of General Practitioners (NHG) confirmed on Thursday. Treatment using the drug Paxlovid, produced by Pfizer, will cost 1,242 euros, and there are strict rules about who qualifies to get those costs covered by insurers.

Paxlovid was already recommended for use in the European Union in January, although Member States were allowed to begin using it from even a few weeks earlier under an emergency measure. Following advice from the European Medicines Agency, the Dutch government entered into negotiations with Pfizer for several months to determine the final price in the Netherlands. The Health Ministry faced criticism in November for not working faster to close the deal.

Treatment using Paxlovid is somewhat complicated, and includes the patient taking 30 pills over a five-day period. Two 150-milligram tablets of Paxlovid and one 100-milligram tablet of the drug ritonavir must be taken together twice daily. Paxlovid makes it harder for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus to replicate in the body, and ritonavir extends the effectiveness of the Pfizer medication, the EMA said earlier this year. Pfizer distributes single packages that include all pills required for one full course of treatment.

Testing results submitted to the EMA showed that 1,039 patients with Covid-19 were given Paxlovid, out of whom eight required hospitalization for more than one day to treat severe symptoms. None of them died. A placebo group of 1,046 patients resulted in 66 hospitalizations and nine deaths.

Though the treatment has proven to be highly effective, a small group of people qualify to get reimbursement for the 1,242 euro cost under their basic health insurance. This includes critically ill or frail people who also have not experienced Covid-19 and are unvaccinated. Additionally, those with “a severely reduced immune system,” including organ transplant patients, who receive care from a specialist can be covered by insurers regardless of vaccination status.

The NHG also advised general practitioners against giving the drug combination to pregnant women, or those taking certain medications.