Two new oral pills gain approval from national healthcare regulatory body

The National Healthcare Security Administration said on Wednesday that all domestic COVID-19 medicines have been added to the national medical reimbursement list, including two newly approved pills.

Two domestically developed oral pills — Xiannuoxin made by Simcere Pharmaceutical Group and VV116 by Shanghai Vinnerna Biosciences — obtained conditional market approval from the top drug regulator in late January, becoming the latest weapons in the country's growing arsenal against the disease.

An online price listing showed that a pack of VV116 containing 36 tablets will be sold at 795 yuan ($117), and each pack of Xiannuoxin will cost 750 yuan.

The administration said on Wednesday that both drugs will be covered by the national healthcare insurance until March 31.

As of Jan 19, a total of 10 domestically made COVID-19 drugs had either been granted official or conditional market approval or were authorized to treat symptoms of the pathogen, according to the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism.

In addition to temporary coverage, the administration has recently updated its national reimbursement list to include more domestic medications targeting the disease.

Azvudine — the first domestically made oral medication for COVID-19 developed by Henan Genuine Biotech — was officially included in the last version of the national reimbursement list that was released on Jan 18 and that is set to take effect on March 1.

Through negotiations with drug manufacturers, the price of Azvudine has been cut to 11.58 yuan for a 3-milligram oral pill.

Three traditional Chinese medicines and three herbal formulas proven effective in easing COVID-19 symptoms have also been added to the list, the administration said.

In addition, China has given market approval to two foreign COVID-19 oral pills — Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's Molnupiravir.

Although price negotiations in January to include Paxlovid in the latest update of the reimbursement list had failed, the administration said previously that the medication will continue to be covered by medical insurance under temporary measures until March 31.