China granted emergency approval for Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill in a promising sign the country could open up further to foreign vaccines and treatments for the virus.
Paxlovid’s import registration was approved Friday, the National Medical Products Administration said in a statement on its website Saturday. The Chinese regulator requires relevant research work to continue to be carried out, with conditional requirements completed within a time limit, and the follow-up research results submitted in a timely manner, according to the statement.
The emergency approval is the first China has given to a drug or vaccine developed by a foreign country for COVID-19. The mRNA COVID vaccine co-developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. secured rights to for the Greater China region, has not yet been approved in China.
China’s homegrown efforts to develop COVID antivirals have largely lagged the West, with the most advanced still in the final stage of trials at sites outside the country.
