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The term "coronavirus" seems to have faded out of people's vision, but in reality, the virus is still mutating and spreading.
On May 11, the U.S. health authorities issued the latest warning that the so-called new variant of FLiRT has emerged from the new coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly throughout the United States, causing widespread concern. According to the latest data disclosed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the main variant circulating in the United States today is the "FLiRT" family led by KP.2, of which KP.2 has accounted for 25% of infections.
As early as April, medical expert Eric Topol warned that FLiRT, represented by KP.2, had a more obvious transmissibility advantage and could trigger a new wave of the pandemic.
KP.2 is a descendant of the JN.1 variant, sometimes referred to as the "FLiRT" variant, so named for its mutated location in the spike protein. Other FLiRT variants, including KP.1.1, are also prevalent in the United States, but are not as prevalent as KP.2. "FLiRT" was first discovered in the US sewer system, but the exact source is unknown.
Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at the University of Warwick in the UK, said, "We are concerned that this KP.2 will cause a wave of infections in the summer. Early evidence suggests that KP.2 appears to be more contagious than previous substrains, but it is too early to tell if it is more dangerous. We should monitor the spread of this sublineage, but given that there aren't many tests right now, it's difficult. ”
So far, these variants have not been shown to cause more severe disease.
The development history of the industry
Since the end of 2019, people in various regions of the world have been infected by the new coronavirus, and the research and development of the new coronavirus itself and related drugs have also accelerated. In March 2020, Hisun Pharmaceutical applied for special approval for its tablet Favipiravir for the indication of new coronavirus infection to enter the Chinese market, which is the earliest approved drug among the "new crown specific drugs" that have been approved and applied for marketing, and since then, two more drugs have been approved in 2020. In 2021, the pace of drug development and approval accelerated, and more and more drugs were launched in the form of special approvals, and Paxlovid was one of 10 drugs approved that year. In 2022, a total of 4 drugs were approved (including normal approval procedures and special approvals).
The industrial map of the global "new crown special drug" industry
The main players in the "new crown drug" industry are AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Company, Kintor Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Real Biotech, Brii Biosciences, Celltrion, Roche, Gilead, etc., and it is worth noting that some companies such as Pfizer and Kintor Pharmaceuticals also have the ability to produce their intermediates and APIs. Key players in upstream intermediates and APIs include Kintor Pharmaceutical, Junshi Biosciences, Huateng Pharmaceutical, AbbVie, CODEXIS, Zenara Pharma and Pfizer. Players in the CXO field of "COVID-19 drugs" include novasep, Huahai Pharmaceutical, and Asymchem, for example, Pfizer entrusted Huahai Pharmaceutical to be responsible for the production of nirmatrelvir preparations and complete the combination packaging.
Industry development prospects
According to the current development of the global "new crown special drug" industry and the development trend of new coronavirus infection, combined with the regional development of the global pharmaceutical industry, the prospect believes that the global "new crown special drug" industry may increase production capacity in the short term and continue to be in the stage of continuous research and development, but in the long run, the demand for drugs will fall, and the drug dosage form will also change to oral drug type. From the perspective of drug imitation, the future development pattern will also follow the regional layout of the generic drug industry.
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For more research and analysis of this industry, please refer to the "Analysis Report on the Development Prospect Forecast and Investment Strategic Planning of China's Biopharmaceutical Industry" by Qianzhan Industry Research Institute
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