China hopes to approve first Covid-19 drug in December
Beijing, Nov 16 (EFE).- The first drug to treat Covid-19 of the several being developed in China could be approved for use in December and is based on the use of monoclonal antibodies capable of neutralizing the virus, state media reported Tuesday.
The treatment is the result of a joint investigation by Tsinghua University, the People’s Hospital Number Three in Shenzhen and the Brii Biosciences company, headquartered in both China and the United States, according to the Global Times outlet.
“The human body produces a large amount of antibodies, but not all of them have antiviral efficacy. Our research aims to select the strongest so that they can be used in drug form to treat infected patients,” according to Tsinghua Zhang, Linqi University Medicine School professor.
According to data released so far, this type of drug would be used to treat mild or moderate Covid-19 cases.
Brii Biosciences announced at the end of August that the treatment demonstrated a reduction of up to 78 percent in hospitalizations and Covid-19 deaths during a third phase of clinical trials in the United States, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina. and the Philippines.
In China, the third testing phase is led by scientist Zhong Nanshan and takes place in the cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen and Nanjing and Yangzhou.
The experimental drug has been administered to more than 700 patients who contracted the disease during the country’s recent outbreaks, attributed to the contagious Delta variant.
Chinese companies and institutions are also developing two other drugs against the novel coronavirus.
State pharmaceutical Sinopharm – responsible for two Covid-19 vaccines used in several countries – is investigating a therapy based on the plasma of recovered patients and whose clinical trials will soon begin in the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, biotechnology company Kintor is working on a third formula in the testing phase.
China has registered 98,337 infections since the beginning of the pandemic – 22 of them notified this Tuesday – and 4,636 deaths from Covid-19, according to data from the National Health Commission.
The country for the moment rules out living with the virus and maintains a policy of “zero tolerance” that entails a strict border closure and the application of harsh containment measures and mobility restrictions every time outbreaks are detected in its territory. EFE
lcl/lds
