Pfizer on Tuesday said it submitted a request for emergency clearance for a pill designed to treat COVID-19. The treatment, known as Paxlovid, is meant to keep COVID-19 patients with mild or moderate symptoms out of hospitals. It reduced the risk of hospitalization or death in a clinical trial, according to an interim analysis the company described in a press release on Nov. 5. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will now consider whether to grant emergency use authorization to Pfizer for the pill. “We are moving as quickly as possible in our effort to get this potential treatment into the hands of patients, and we look forward to working with the U.S. FDA on its review of our application, along with other regulatory agencies around the world,” Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. The FDA did not immediately answer emailed questions. Merck already submitted documents …