Factbox: China's approved COVID treatments

Brii Biosciences

14/12/2022 11:40

BEIJING, Dec 14 (Reuters) - As China begins dismantling
its tough zero-COVID controls, there is strong anecdotal
evidence that cases in cities such as Beijing and Chengdu are
spiking, boosting demand not only for flu and fever medication
but also COVID-specific treatments. 
    Here are some of the treatments available in China: 
    PAXLOVID
    China approved in February the antiviral COVID-19 pill
developed by Pfizer  PFE.N . The drug has been largely available
via hospitals to treat high-risk patients in several provinces.
    But a Chinese online healthcare platform started selling the
medication for 2,980 yuan ($426.80) per box for those submitting
a positive COVID-19 test result, a sales page on the app showed
on Tuesday. 
    The listing disappeared after about half an hour, and a
customer service officer for the platform said that was due to
the product selling out. It remains unavailable on the platform.
    AZUVDINE
    The drug, developed by Chinese drugmaker Genuine Biotech,
was approved by China's health regulator to be used to treat
COVID-19 in July, becoming the first domestically developed oral
antiviral medicine for the infection. 
    It is approved for the treatment of adult patients with
"normal" COVID-19, not patients in severe condition. It costs
270 yuan for 35 tablets, cheaper than Pfizer's Paxlovid. 
    It was first developed for the treatment of Hepatitis C and
researched later as AIDS therapy. It was granted domestic
approval in July 2021 to treat certain HIV-1 virus infections.
    Henan province-based Genuine Biotech said in July this year
that in a late-stage clinical trial 40.4% of patients taking the
medication showed improvement in symptoms seven days after first
taking the drug, compared with 10.9% in the control group. 
    The tablets became available online on the platform of a
Shenzhen-based drug store briefly in November but were pulled a
day later. Genuine Biotech said in a statement the company
required the store to stop selling the pills online according to
the country's pandemic prevention regulations.
    Fosun Pharma  600196.SS , part of Chinese conglomerate Fosun
Group, has exclusive rights to commercialize Genuine's COVID
treatment in China. 
    On Tuesday, a Fosun Pharma representative said the company
was working with a number of internet medical platforms to meet
demand from COVID-19 patients recuperating at home. 
    EVUSHELD
    AstraZeneca Plc's  AZN.L  antibody cocktail Evusheld for
COVID-19 prevention was earlier this year cleared for use in a
medical tourism zone in China's southern province of Hainan,
through local preferential policies that allow the zone to
accelerate drug use ahead of national approval. 
    China's WuXi Biologics  2269.HK  is partnering with
AstraZeneca to produce Evusheld, or tixagevimab/cilgavimab, to
supply China and other countries. 
    BRII-196/BRII-198
    The antibody-based treatment was approved by China's medical
products regulator in December last year to treat adults and
teenagers with mild and normal cases of COVID-19 that show a
high risk for progression to severe disease. It is administered
to patients through infusion. 
    The therapy, developed by Brii Biosciences  2137.HK ,
China's Tsinghua University and a Shenzhen-based hospital and
manufactured by WuXi Biologics  2269.HK , requires a doctor's
prescription and must be administered by healthcare
professionals. 
 (Reporting by Sophie Yu, Roxanne Liu, Brenda Goh and Miyoung
Kim; Editing by Tom Hogue)
 ((Sophie.Yu@thomsonreuters.com; 861056692136;))