Covid surge in China drives demand for Indian generic drugs

A sudden surge in Covid cases in China has made anti-Covid generic drugs from India attractive, including the generic version of Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) anti-Covid oral drug Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir/ritonavir), which is in high demand and needs to be reserved weeks in advance. Given Pfizer's recent announcement that it does not intend to license a generic version of Paxlovid to Chinese authorities, black marketers and illegal sites selling generic drugs in China have joined the melee, scurrying to satiate the high demand, reports The Pharma Letter’s India correspondent.

Due to the short supply of Paxlovid, demand for Indian generic versions has gone through the roof as Chinese e-commerce platforms scramble to get anti-Covid drugs. However, while India-made Covid generic drugs are trending on several Chinese social media platforms, some Chinese drug manufacturers have expressed concern about fake drugs flooding the market.

Although Paxlovid was approved in China in February last year, it has not been widely available due to its high price of $339.69 (around 2,300 renminbi) per pack.