News Analysis
Chinese people are searching for Indian-made generic drugs after Paxlovid, Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral drug, was recently excluded from China’s national health insurance scheme.
On Jan. 8, China’s National Health Insurance Administration (NHSA) failed to negotiate with Pfizer to include Paxlovid in the national health insurance scheme on the grounds that Pfizer’s quote was too high, according to Chinese state-run media.
Paxlovid, which contains two major oral antivirals: nirmatrelvir and ritonavir, can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent in people at risk who took the drug within three days of symptoms onset, according to a clinical trial sponsored by Pfizer….