On July 14, the official website of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention released the "Monkeypox Epidemic Monitoring in June 2023", showing that from June 2 to June 30, 2023, 106 new confirmed cases of monkeypox were reported in Chinese mainland (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), including 48 cases reported in Guangdong Province, 45 cases reported in Beijing, 8 cases reported in Jiangsu Province, 2 cases reported in Hubei Province, 2 cases reported in Shandong Province and 1 case reported in Zhejiang Province, with no severe cases or deaths.
At present, monkeypox cases have been found in 111 countries and regions around the world, and last year, imported monkeypox cases were reported in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Chongqing. Monkeypox is a disease that is transmitted through close contact and enters the body mainly through broken skin and mucous membranes.
As of now, there is still no vaccine to prevent monkeypox. In July 2022, WHO recommended that countries with the capacity to manufacture medical resources increase the production and supply of monkeypox tests, vaccines or medicines and work with WHO to allocate these resources to maximize the effectiveness of stopping the global spread of the virus.
01
The first clinical trial application for monkeypox in China was accepted by CDE
On July 13, the official website of CDE showed that the clinical trial application of "replicate defective monkeypox vaccine" submitted by Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd. has been accepted by CDE. This is the first monkeypox vaccine in China to be accepted by CDE, which plays an important role in preventing monkeypox infection.
According to the "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Monkeypox (2022 Edition)" issued by the National Health Commission, monkeypox virus is classified into the genus orthopoxvirus of the pox viridae family, and is one of the four orthopoxvirus genera that cause disease to humans (the other 3 are smallpox virus, pox-seedling virus and vaccinia virus), and its transmission route is:
The virus invades the body through mucous membranes and broken skin
Humans are infected mainly through contact with exudates, blood, and other body fluids from infected animals, or through bites or scratches from infected animals
Transmission is mainly from person to person through close contact, but it can also be transmitted through droplets, contact with items contaminated with the virus can also be infected, and it can also spread vertically through the placenta. Sexual transmission cannot be ruled out
Monkeypox is a self-limited disease, there are currently no specific anti-monkeypox virus drugs in China, and there is no specific vaccine specifically developed for monkeypox virus, but previous vaccines against smallpox can play a cross-protective role. At present, monkeypox cases have been reported in many places in the mainland, monkeypox confirmed cases, and there have been cases of local transmission, the industry said that vaccination is still the main means to prevent severe disease, and the research and development of monkeypox vaccine is also necessary.
02
The technical layout of domestic testing reagents and vaccines has heated up
In response to monkeypox, a "big hot spot" of global concern, a new concept of "pox virus prevention and control" will naturally appear in A-shares
The concept of monkeypox involves protection, detection, treatment and other branch concepts, because there is no monkeypox special vaccine, so there is no clear vaccine concept related to the concept of vaccine for the time being. At present, there are more than 50 listed companies with monkeypox-related business in the A-share market, of which a total of 23 have received concentrated attention from 3 or more institutions, and most of the companies are involved in testing business.
In addition, according to the latest show of Tianyancha App, many domestic parties have begun monkeypox related technology patents, including "monkeypox infection skin image detection method" and "multivalent monkeypox vaccine". Among them, the patent of "a monkeypox sample collector" applied by Chengdu Ruiqi Medical Technology Co., Ltd. can reduce the length of the sample storage tube, ensure the transportation efficiency of the sample storage tube, and set spikes on the sampling curette to pierce monkeypox, making sampling more convenient; The patent of "RNA, RNA combination and its application, multivalent monkeypox vaccine" applied by the Military Medical Research Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences has good immunogenicity and is of great significance for the prevention of monkeypox virus.
At present, monkeypox virus nucleic acid detection includes fluorescent PCR method, PCR-fluorescent probe method, multiplex fluorescent PCR method, colloidal gold method, etc. According to public information, there are currently more than 50 listed companies with monkeypox-related testing business in the A-share market, such as Novozan, Hotjing Biotechnology, Zhijiang Biotechnology, Wanfu Biotechnology, etc. Among them, Zhijiang Biotech has become a representative supplier of WHO monkeypox nucleic acid detection kits worldwide, and last year received 17 batches of emergency orders for monkeypox nucleic acid detection kits from WHO.
In order to further guide all localities to do a good job in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control of monkeypox, as early as last year, the National Health Commission and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine issued the "Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Monkeypox (2022 Edition)", and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention also issued the "Technical Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Monkeypox (2022 Edition)", requiring strengthening monkeypox quarantine monitoring and preparing monkeypox diagnostic reagents, therapeutic drugs and vaccines.