What’s new: Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Bourla shot down reports that the pharmaceutical giant is working with a company in China to make generic versions of its breakthrough Covid drug Paxlovid for the domestic market.
However, domestic production of branded Paxlovid for the local market is expected to start in the first half of the year, Bourla said Monday at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
Bourla did not name the local manufacturer, but Caixin reported in August that Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (600521.SH) had signed a deal with Pfizer to produce Paxlovid for the local market.
The background: Bourla’s comments come after Pfizer’s negotiations with Chinese health authorities to have Paxlovid listed on the national medical scheme this year broke down over the weekend, prompting speculation that regulators may be holding out for a generic version of the drug.
Chinese health officials are facing a shortage of Covid drugs as they work to combat a virus wave after easing restrictions last month. Drugs like Paxlovid, as well as basic fever medications, are fetching astronomical prices on the black market.
In March, five Chinese drugmakers signed agreements with a United Nations-backed organization to produce low-cost generic versions of Paxlovid for export, including Zhejiang Huahai and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. Ltd. (600196.SH).
But under the terms of that deal, agreed between Pfizer and the Medicines Patent Pool, the drugs can only be accessed by the body’s list of low- and middle-income countries, which does not include China. The deal lasts until the World Health Organization declares an end to the Covid public health emergency.
Bloomberg contributed reporting.
Contact reporter Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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