27 generic drug companies authorized by MPP in the world.
Beijing News (reporter Zhang Xiulan) on January 20, local time, the Geneva Pharmaceutical Patent Pool (MPP) organization announced through its official website that 27 generic drug companies around the world have been authorized to produce Merck's new crown oral drug Molnupiravir or API, Fosun Pharma, Bo Rui Pharma, Langhua Pharmaceutical, Longze Pharmaceutical, Disano Pharmaceutical 5 Chinese enterprises are listed. On January 21, the stock prices of the above-mentioned companies rose significantly. Behind the MPP agreement, what are the 5 Chinese companies?
27 companies worldwide are authorized by MPP
According to the MPP, the organization has signed agreements with 27 generic drug companies around the world, which are authorized to produce Merck's COVID-19 oral drug Molnupiravir, or API, and supply it to 105 low- and middle-income countries and regions around the world. Molnupiravir is the world's first oral antiviral drug approved for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults. The authorization is based on a voluntary licensing agreement between MPP and Merck signed in October 2021.
The 27 authorized companies are located in 11 countries and regions around the world, including Bangladesh, China, India, South Korea, etc. Among them, 5 enterprises produce APIs, 13 enterprises produce APIs and drugs, and 9 enterprises produce drugs.
The five authorized Chinese enterprises are Fosun Pharma, Brilliant Pharma, Langhua Pharmaceutical, Longze Pharmaceutical and Disano Pharma. Among them, Langhua Pharmaceutical only obtained api production authorization, and the remaining 4 enterprises obtained API and drug production authorization. However, from the perspective of the supply areas announced by MPP, China is not among them.
As soon as the news came out, on January 21, the stock prices of authorized domestic companies rose one after another, and Fosun Pharma opened with a limit and then opened the board. As of the close, Brilliant Pharma rose to a halt, Fosun Pharma rose 5.98%, Eddy Pharmaceutical (with a stake in Longze Pharmaceutical) rose 10.79%, and Hong Kong-listed company Via Bio (Langhua Pharmaceutical as its holding subsidiary) rose 16.83% at press time.
The MPP also notes that due to the current COVID-19 it is still classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, in this license, neither Merck nor Ridgeback nor Emory University, where the drug was invented, will receive royalties from licensors for The sale of Molnupiravir.
In addition to Merck, Pfizer, another pharmaceutical company that owns COVID-19 drugs, has also signed a licensing agreement with MPP. In November 2021, Pfizer issued a statement signing an agreement with MPP that, once authorized by regulatory agencies, would allow generic drug companies to produce cheap versions of anti-coronavirus drugs for 95 low- and middle-income countries.
How are the 5 domestic companies coming from?
According to the closing price on January 21, Fosun Pharma's total market value has exceeded 131.7 billion yuan, and its direct operations include pharmaceuticals, medical devices and medical diagnosis, medical and health services, and covers the pharmaceutical business field through its participation in Sinopharm Holdings. Fosun Pharma is also one of the world's largest antimalarial drug manufacturers, R&D and manufacturing enterprises, has become a global fund, UNICEF, WHO and African countries in the pharmaceutical procurement center of antimalarial drug suppliers, but also has an international layout, has a mature sales network and upstream and downstream customer resources in the English and French-speaking areas south of the Sahara Desert in Africa.
Brilliant Pharmaceutical has been engaged in the research and development and production of high-tech barrier pharmaceutical intermediates, APIs and preparation products. In the field of generic drugs, Brilliant Pharmaceutical has mastered the core technology of the production of more than 40 high-end chemical drugs, including entecavir, etc., and its products have also been sold in dozens of countries around the world, and some products have helped customers achieve the first imitation in specific markets.
Longze Pharmaceutical's main products include antiviral, antidepressant and anti-neuralgia preparations and APIs and their intermediates. As one of the world's leading suppliers of anti-AIDS drug products, Longze Pharmaceutical provides drug support to about 4 million AIDS patients around the world every year, including China.
Langhua Pharmaceutical is a subsidiary of Via Bio Holdings, a Hong Kong listed company, dedicated to providing partners with one-stop solutions for CDMO from raw materials (APIs) to preparations, from preclinical to commercial supply, and at the same time providing small molecule imitation APIs for the global market, and is a major global manufacturer of quinolones, spironolactones, olanzapine, antivirals and other APIs.
Founded in 1996, Disano Company, with anti-AIDS drugs as the core development field, is one of the first enterprises in China to engage in the development of anti-HIV drugs and obtain approval for the production of such drugs. In the international anti-AIDS drug market, 4 formulation varieties have obtained WHO marketing authorization, and 2 preparation varieties have obtained marketing authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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