From the DU-linked AP article:
Pfizer said it will ask the FDA and international regulators to authorize its pill as soon as possible, after independent experts recommended halting the company’s study based on the strength of its results. Once Pfizer applies, the FDA could make a decision within weeks or months.
Since the beginning of the pandemic last year, researchers worldwide have been racing to find a pill to treat COVID-19 that can be taken at home to ease symptoms, speed recovery and keep people out of the hospital.
AP doesn't go into underlying detail, but basically what AP reported means that the Pfizer drug was in Phase 3 testing, and the in-process results were so good that the independent test safety and effectiveness monitoring people
(normal for all drug and vaccine tests - the FDA and drug company do not have direct oversight of tests nor custody of test data) decided the results were so dramatic that the delay to complete the test would needlessly delay introduction of an effective drug. Also, if AP used the word "authorize" precisely, that means the drug would be administered, for a time, under Emergency Use Authorization, not full approval.
On the side, FDA test processes being what they are, this drug has probably been in human testing for a year or so (with weeks or months of cell-level and animal testing before that). Obviously Pfizer did not view a Covid treatment as a competitor against their Covid vaccine.