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Pfizer says locally produced Covid pills may be available in China within the next few months
- The drug maker has not yet reached a deal to provide Paxlovid through the country’s public health scheme due to a disagreement over pricing
- However, the company is working with a local partner to produce the drug, which will be available privately, in China
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Zhuang Pinghuiin Beijing
China will have locally produced Pfizer Covid pills within the next few months, but the company is not in talks with the authorities to license generic drugs, according to the company’s chief executive.
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Albert Bourla also told the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that the anti-viral medication Paxlovid would not be available via China’s public health scheme because the price China was offering was less than the company would accept from a “middle-income country”.
The drug is currently covered by public health insurance until March 31 under a temporary arrangement for 1,890 yuan (just under US$280) a packet. Placing it on the register of drugs covered by basic medical insurance would have made it more affordable for patients.
Bourla said the company has tiered pricing schemes for high-income countries, lower prices for middle-income countries and offers drugs at cost price to low-income countries, but the price China was offering was too low.
“[China] wanted lower than the lowest of the middle… They are the second biggest economy in the world. And I don’t think that they should pay less than El Salvador, which is a poor country.”
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On Sunday China’s National Health Security Administration said that the company’s quotation was too high.
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