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Coronavirus China
ChinaScience

China gives green light to 2 home-grown Covid-19 antiviral treatments

  • The approval comes during reprieve from tsunami of infections but another wave could be on the way after Lunar New Year migration
  • The approved medications include China’s first antiviral to use the same approach as Pfizer’s Paxlovid

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The Covid-19 medication VV116 is one of two Chinese oral pill treatments approved for use in China on Sunday. Photo: Handout
Hayley Wong
China’s medical products regulator has approved two more domestically developed antiviral drugs as the country braces for a possible wave of post-Lunar New Year Covid-19 infections.
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The oral pills SIM0417 (called Xiannuoxin) and VV116, targeting mild to moderate symptoms, were approved for adult patients by the National Medical Products Administration on Sunday.

The approval brings the number of Covid-19 antivirals which can be sold in China to five – including the HIV drug Azvudine and Molnupiravir, another overseas product better known as Lagevrio – and will help meet demand for the medication in future peaks.

After a tsunami of cases in December, China reported a sharp drop in the number of hospital patients dying from Covid-19 during the Lunar New Year holiday – at 6,364 between January 20-26, it was almost half the previous week.

But while the accuracy of Chinese health figures has been controversial, there are also concerns that the mass migration from cities to villages during China’s largest festival could cause another wave of infection.

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SIM0417 is the first Chinese antiviral to act as a 3CL protease inhibitor, which suppresses the protein required for viral replication – the same approach adopted by Pfizer’s Paxlovid, but more effective, according to developer Simcere Pharmaceutical.

Paxlovid was imported to China last year for Covid-19 but has been removed from the country’s public health insurance scheme because of its cost, after Chinese authorities failed to negotiate a low enough price.

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