In a filing with the Shanghai stock exchange, China Meheco said the deal is valid from Dec. 14 to Nov. 30, 2023. Since the Covid treatment was approved by China last February, it has been used mainly by hospitals to treat high-risk patients.

Since August, Paxlovid has also been produced in the People’s Republic under an agreement between Pfizer and Chinese pharmaceutical producer Zhejiang Huahai.

On Dec. 13, in what news agencies said appeared to be the first retail sale of the drug in the country, a Chinese healthcare platform began offering the two-dose treatment on its website and was sold out just over half an hour after the listing was reported in the media.

Pfizer said in a statement that it is "actively collaborating with all stakeholders to secure an adequate supply of Paxlovid in China and remains committed to fulfilling the Covid-19 treatment needs of patients in China.”

US government tops up Paxlovid supply

The US government also ordered additional supplies of Paxlovid this week, paying Pfizer nearly $2 billion for an additional 3.7 million courses on top of the 20 million courses it bought earlier. The top-up delivery is planned for early next year.

The New York drugmaker said the Biden administration, which previously agreed to pay around $10.6 billion – roughly $530 per treatment course – for the first 20 million courses is paying about the same amount per course for the fresh supply.

Prior to announcement of the latest US order, analysts had forecast that Paxlovid sales would rise above $22 billion in 2022 before dropping back to $12 billion in 2023. In 2021, Pfizer said it would be able to produce up to 120 million courses in 2022. As of Nov. 30, the company said it had shipped almost 37 million courses to 52 countries.

The oral treatment is currently authorized for conditional or emergency use in some 70 countries. In June, Pfizer submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval of Paxlovid for patients who are at high risk of progression to severe disease from Covid-19.

The target Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date for a decision by the FDA is in February 2023, the drugmaker said.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist