What is the type of COVID-19 drug that Pfizer has received emergency conditional approval in China, and how effective it is

The Pfizer version of the new crown oral drug is coming.

On February 11, the State Food and Drug Administration issued a news that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Drug Administration Law, in accordance with the special drug approval procedures, emergency review and approval was carried out, and the import registration of Pfizer's new coronavirus treatment drug nematvir tablets/ritonavir tablets combination packaging (i.e. Paxlovid) was conditionally approved.

Pfizer COVID-19 oral drug "Paxlovid". Infographic

According to the State Food and Drug Administration, this is an oral small molecule new coronavirus treatment drug for the treatment of adults with mild to moderate new coronavirus pneumonia patients with high-risk factors for progression to severe disease, such as patients with severe risk factors such as advanced age, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease and other high-risk factors.

What is Paxlovid?

COVID-19 therapeutics, like vaccines, are seen as an important tool for global epidemic prevention and control. Globally, there have been advances in a number of different types of COVID-19 treatments, such as COVID-19 neutralization antibody therapy, small molecule COVID-19 drugs (including RNA polymerase inhibitors, JAK inhibitors, AR antagonists, 3CL protease inhibitors, etc.).

Paxlovid is an oral small molecule new crown treatment, specifically, a combination of PF-07321332 and ritonavir, the former PF-07321332 is designed to block the activity of SARS-CoV-2-3CL protease. Ritonavir is a common HIV drug, and the combination of the two helps slow the metabolism or breakdown of PF-07321332, allowing it to remain active in the body at higher concentrations for longer periods of time to help fight the virus.

In terms of effectiveness, according to data released by Pfizer at the end of 2021, Paxlovid taken within three days after the onset of symptoms compared with placebo can reduce the probability of hospitalization or death in mild and moderate adult patients by 89%. Also at the end of 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urgently approved Pfizer's oral COVID-19 drug for use in high-risk groups over the age of 12, making it the first oral COVID-19 drug approved in the United States.

Pfizer is a multinational pharmaceutical company with a history of more than 170 years, and it is also one of the world's four major vaccine giants, and has been in China for more than 30 years.

Paxlovid was approved in the U.S. on December 22, 2021, local time, just about a week before 2022. Although the time is short, according to Pfizer's 2021 financial report, Paxlovid brought in revenue of $76 million. In addition, Pfizer's revenue guidance for the drug in 2022 is $22 billion, and it is expected to reach 120 million treatment courses in 2022.

For the approval of Pfizer oral medicine in China, Meng Lilian, chief expert of Sichuan Tianfu Health Industry Research Institute, believes that the current may be more symbolic. On the one hand, the number of new crown infections in China is not large, and the combination of traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine has been proved to be reliable and effective, and the market demand for Pfizer's new crown oral drugs may be limited. On the other hand, the approval of Pfizer's new crown oral drug for domestic marketing shows that China attaches great importance to the new crown epidemic, and approving Pfizer new crown oral drug can not only enrich China's anti-epidemic means, but also show China's open attitude.

Wang Chikun, an independent economist, told the surging news reporter that it can be seen that the introduction of more advanced or different programs of drugs and intellectual property rights can supplement and enrich the new crown treatment plan. The emergency review and approval is a temporary emergency measure, and the additional research conditions are long-term measures, highlighting the determination and wisdom of the country to control the new crown epidemic.

Who are Pfizer's partners in China?

On November 16, 2021 local time, Pfizer announced that Paxlovid has entered into a voluntary licensing agreement with the United Nations-backed public health organization "Drug Patent Pool" (MPP), which will enable MPP to promote the additional production and distribution of research antiviral drugs by granting licenses to qualified generic drug manufacturers, under which qualified generic drug manufacturers authorized by MPP will be able to provide the drug to 95 countries, covering about 53% of the global population.

Merck has allowed 27 pharmaceutical companies to imitate Merck's COVID-19 oral medicines, of which 5 are Chinese pharmaceutical companies. Whether Pfizer's authorized manufacturers of qualified generic drugs include Chinese companies is not yet known.

It is worth mentioning that on February 11, the domestic pharmaceutical contract custom research and development and production enterprise (CDMO) company Boteng Shares (300363) announced that the company received a new batch of "purchase orders" from Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals (Ireland Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.), a subsidiary of Pfizer, and the company will provide CDMO services for it, with a total order amount of 681 million US dollars, which exceeded the operating income of Boteng shares last year. The announcement shows that the relevant purchase order is currently in effect, and the order delivery time is 2022.

The timing coincidence sparked speculation, but Boten did not disclose in the announcement whether the new order received was the new coronavirus oral drug Paxlovid.

According to the 2020 annual report, Tengsheng Co., Ltd. was established in 2005, and by the end of 2020, it has established business contacts with nearly 500 customers around the world, including 16 of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies, and has provided contract customized research and development and production services for about 1400 projects for customers around the world, and the drugs involve anti-AIDS, tumor, hepatitis, diabetes, anti-influenza, anti-allergy and other indications. As of the close of trading on February 11, Boteng shares closed at 61.32 yuan, down 2.19%, with a market value of 33.38 billion yuan.