Co-Developed Covid Drug Commercially Launched

The first batch of drugs of the China-developed neutralizing antibody combination therapy against COVID-19 has recently been approved to commercially enter the market in China, according to the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen.

The long-acting amubarvimab/romlusevimab combination therapy was jointly developed by Tsinghua University, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen and biotech firm Brii Biosciences and had been found in clinical trials to significantly reduce hospitalizations and deaths among high-risk COVID patients.

It was China’s first approved COVID-19 virus-neutralizing therapy with independent intellectual property rights.

The drug maintains neutralizing activity against major COVID-19 variants of concern. At present, the drug has a total dosage of 2,000 milligrams and it costs between US$1,500 and US$2,000 per person in the U.S., and less than 10,000 yuan (US$1,494) in China.

In December 2021, the National Medical Products Administration granted emergency approval to the monoclonal neutralizing antibody therapy for COVID-19. The therapy was used to treat adults and pediatric patients aged 12 to 17 and weighing at least 40 kilograms with mild and normal COVID-19 type at high risk for progression to severe disease, including hospitalization or death. The pediatric patient indicator is under a conditional approval.

In March 2022, the National Health Commission added the amubarvimab/romlusevimab combination to its COVID-19 Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines (9th Pilot Edition) for COVID treatment.

ARTICLE FROM: Shenzhen Government Online (sz.gov.cn)