‘NO GENERIC PAXLOVID IN CHINA FOR NOW’
Talks on future pricing for treatment have broken off, says Pfizer
PFIZER Inc is not in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its Covid-19 treatment drug Paxlovid for use there, but is in discussions about a price for the branded product, said chief executive Albert Bourla on Monday.
Reuters reported last Friday that China was in talks with Pfizer to secure a licence that would allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of Paxlovid in the country.
Referring to that report, Bourla — speaking at J.P. Morgan’s healthcare conference, here — said: “We are not in discussions. We have an agreement for the local manufacturing of Paxlovid in China. We have a local partner that will make Paxlovid for us and then we will sell it to the Chinese market.”
He added that the company had shipped thousands of courses of the treatment to China last year.
On Sunday, China’s Healthcare Security Administration said the country would not include Paxlovid in an update to its list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes as the US firm quoted a high price for the Covid-19 drug.
Bourla said talks with China on future pricing for the treatment had broken off after China asked for a lower price than Pfizer was charging for most lower middle income countries.
“They are the second highest economy in the world and I don’t think that they should pay less than El Salvador.”
Bourla said the removal from the list would not affect the company’s business there until April.
He said the company had shipped millions of courses of the drug to China in recent weeks.
The company could end up selling only to the private market in China, he said.