On January 20, 2022, the pharmaceutical patent pool organization MPP announced that it had reached an agreement with 27 generic drug manufacturers to license the production of the low-cost COVID-19 oral drug Molnupiravir free of charge and supply it to 105 low- and middle-income countries (not including China). Five of the 27 companies are from China, including Fosun Pharmaceuticals, Longze Pharmaceuticals (Eddy Pharmaceuticals), Langhua Pharmaceuticals (Viva Biotech Holdings), Borui Pharmaceuticals, and Diseno Pharmaceuticals.
Stimulated by favorable news, Fosun Pharmaceuticals (A shares) surged 7.58%, Borui Pharmaceuticals rose and stopped by 20cm, Eddy Pharmaceuticals surged 13%, and ViaBiotech surged 15.8%.
Currently, oral anti-COVID-19 drugs mainly have two mechanisms: polymerase inhibitors (RdRp) and protease inhibitors (3CL). COVID-19 polymerase inhibitors are nucleoside analogues that are integrated into the RNA chain through RNA polymerase (rdRP), which is dependent on viral RNA, and blocks the replication of viral RNA.
Overseas, two oral medications, Pfizer's protease inhibitor Paxlovid (Nirmatrelvir+ ritonavir) and MSD's polymerase inhibitor Molnupiravir, have been approved by the EUA to treat patients with mild cases of COVID-19. Among them, Paxlovid had excellent efficacy, reducing the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% compared to placebo, slightly less effective Molnupiravir, and reducing the risk of hospitalization or death by 30% compared to placebo.
Molnupiravir...