Pfizer Inc has signed a $5.29 billion deal with the US government to deliver 10 million courses of its Covid-19 oral antiviral drug starting this year, Reuters quoted the drugmaker as saying on Thursday.

The oral drug could be a promising new weapon in the fight against the pandemic, as it can be taken as an early at-home treatment to help prevent Covid-19 hospitalisations and deaths.

Pfizer on Tuesday filed for US authorisation of the drug, Paxlovid, and said it expects to manufacture 180,000 treatment courses by the end of next month and at least 50 million courses by the end of 2022.