Introducing Azvudine! COVID Antivirus Drugs Marketed In China December This Year

JAKARTA - Anti-COVID-19 drugs are expected to start being marketed in China in December 2021.

The Henan Normal University research team stated that the anti-COVID drug it developed could be marketed in China as soon as next month.

The drug, named Azvudine, is currently entering the third phase of clinical trials at Zhengzhou University Class I Hospital, Zhengzhou City, Henan.

The third phase of clinical trials of the drug, reported by Antara, Wednesday, November 24, said that it was also carried out in Brazil and Russia. Azvudine is an anti-HIV drug that is categorized as an antiretroviral (reverse transcriptase inhibitor).

"Regarding the new coronavirus, the drug exhibits an effective antiviral reaction," wrote the news page The Paper.

The Azvudine anti-HIV pill, developed by researchers at Henan Normal University, was approved for distribution in the domestic market last July.

So far, China has adopted three methods of developing anti-COVID-19 drugs, namely preventing the virus from entering through human cells, inhibiting virus replication, and adjusting the human immune system.

Each of the three methods has a strategic advantage in overcoming COVID-19, according to the Global Times. VV116, an anti-COVID-19 drug candidate developed by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica and the Wuhan Institute of Virology, is currently in the clinical evaluation stage.

The monoclonal antibody combination developed by Tsinghua University, Shenzhen Class III Hospital, Brii Biosciences (a China-US company), is also expected to get marketing authorization next month. The therapeutic drug is also likely to be the first drug to get emergency marketing authorization in a developed country, such as the US.