Chinese authorities have acknowledged that supplies of Paxlovid are still insufficient to meet demand, even as Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said last week that thousands of courses of the treatment were shipped to the country last year and in the past couple of weeks millions more were shipped.
“Pfizer is actively collaborating with Chinese authorities and all stakeholders to secure an adequate supply of Paxlovid in China. We remain committed to fulfilling the Covid-19 treatment needs of Chinese patients and partnering with the Chinese government,” the company said in a statement.
Racing to defend against a rising death toll, China has also approved Merck & Co’s (MRK.N) Covid antiviral drug and is reviewing a treatment developed by Japan’s Shionogi (4507.T).
Paxlovid is covered by state insurance — albeit temporarily until the end of March — meaning patients in theory would only need to pay 198 yuan ($29), a tenth of its usual price.
But China doesn’t provide data on how many treatment courses are supplied and where it can be purchased, forcing most patients to rely on media reports, word-of-mouth or even importing through unauthorised channels in the grey market.
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Those who do manage to find a supplier often end up paying exorbitant prices, as demand has shot up amid a giant wave of Covid-19 infections.
The official Guangzhou Daily reported that patients at the United Family Healthcare hospital in Guangdong were paying 6,000 yuan ($891) for health checks before being allowed to get Paxlovid priced at 2,300 yuan at the hospital.
The hospital did not immediately reply to a Reuters’ request for comment.
Health data firm Airfinity estimated in December that China would need 49 million courses of the Covid treatment over the next five months, with over 22 million needed in January alone.
The Pfizer drug can be also purchased for 2,170 yuan with prescription via online platforms, but it typically sells out within seconds.
Paxlovid – a combination of two anti viral drugs – is one of the few foreign oral treatments approved by Beijing and a clinical trial has found it to have reduced hospitalisations in high-risk patients by around 90%.
Having been approved in February last year, Paxlovid was scarcely used in China until December when the government started lifting its strict containment policy, and wave of Covid infections began to build.
