China's In-House Developed COVID-19 Treatment Drug Approval Expected Next Month

Conditional Launch Expected for BRII-196 and BRII-198 Jointly Developed with Tsinghua University
All 9 COVID-19 Treatments Under Development in China

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] Reports have emerged that China may approve a domestically developed COVID-19 treatment as early as next month.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Chinese media Pengpai on the 24th, the treatments BRII-196 and BRII-198, jointly developed by Tsinghua University, Shenzhen Third People's Hospital, and Brii Biosciences, are expected to receive conditional approval for release in China by the end of December.

The research team applied for conditional approval of the treatments from the China National Medical Products Administration earlier last month.

Chinese media reported that Zhong Nanshan, a Chinese respiratory expert, is conducting Phase 3 clinical trials of these treatments in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Nanjing, with positive results.

The state-run Global Times expressed expectations that these treatments might also receive emergency use authorization in the United States.

Azvudine, an oral COVID-19 treatment developed by Zhengzhou University, is also undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials and plans to apply for conditional approval as early as next month. The Phase 3 trials are being conducted in China, Brazil, and Russia.

The Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is developing two other oral COVID-19 treatments, including VV116.

Pengpai introduced that there are a total of nine COVID-19 treatments under development in China, applying three mechanisms: virus replication inhibition, blocking virus entry into cells, and modulation of the human immune system.

Meanwhile, Merck's oral COVID-19 treatment molnupiravir was granted the world's first approval for use in the United Kingdom on the 4th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.