The first patient got dosed in a clinical trial analyzing Pfizer’s oral COVID-19 drug, the company announced Wednesday. The phase 2/3 study is analyzing a protease inhibitor currently known as PF-07321332. The drug is meant to combat COVID-19 in patients who experience symptoms from the disease but do not require hospital care. The randomized, double-blind trial will enroll about 1,140 participants, approximately half of whom will receive a placebo. The participants will get the drug or the placebo every 12 hours orally for five days. People who get the drug will also receive ritonavir. “If successful, we believe this therapy could help reduce severity of illness among a broad population of patients,” Rod MacKenzie, Pfizer’s chief development officer, said in a statement. The company already started a separate trial that’s testing a different protease inhibitor. That one is administered via IV. Inhibitors are a type of medicine that stop viruses from …