Pfizer could begin manufacturing Paxlovid in China via a local partner within three to four months after Beijing took steps to grant the permits needed to manufacture and supply the Covid-19 drug in the country.
Albert Bourla, Pfizer’s chief executive, said Monday that a local contract manufacturer is preparing to start production as demand for the oral antiviral treatment surges amid a supply crisis in China. Pfizer last year signed a deal with Zhejiang Huahai to manufacture Paxlovid to meet the needs of Chinese patients.
“We expected to be able to have local production by the end of the year, but with the progress I’m seeing and the efforts of the Chinese authorities to quench production, that will happen much sooner ‘ Bourla said at JPMorgan’s health conference in San Francisco.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes in three, four months,” he added.
Pfizer is increasing shipments of Paxlovid to China from its own manufacturing facilities outside the country to deal with a serious supply crisis for the drug.
Bourla said Pfizer only shipped a few thousand courses of Paxlovid to China in 2022. That rose to millions of courses in December and the first week of January, he added.
China’s National Healthcare Security Administration said Sunday it would not include Paxlovid on a list of drugs covered by basic health insurance because of its high price, which Pfizer said.
However, Paxlovid has health insurance under an emergency contract until March 31.
The sudden reversal of Beijing’s zero-Covid policy last month has prompted a surge in infections across the country, and doctors have complained of Paxlovid deficiency. Prices of the drug have skyrocketed in private markets.
Paxlovid, which is widely prescribed to treat mild to moderate Covid cases, is the only foreign Covid drug approved for use in China. Other local remedies were approved, but experts said Paxlovid remained the medical community’s drug of choice given the clinical evidence supporting its effectiveness.
Bourla said reports that Beijing is negotiating with Pfizer to allow local manufacturers to make generic versions of the drug for distribution are incorrect. Negotiations with the statutory health insurance company about a further price reduction from April 1 have not yet been completed.
Bourla said Beijing wants a further cut in the price, which is already lower than what many middle-income countries are paying under Pfizer’s three-tier pricing program.
“They are the second largest economy in the world,” he said. “And I don’t think they should pay less than El Salvador, right, that’s a poor country.”
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Bourla said talks are continuing, but if no agreement is reached, Pfizer will continue to sell Paxlovid in the private market in China after April 1.
Bruce Liu, who heads the China life sciences practice at consulting firm Simon-Kucher & Partners, said Beijing and Pfizer were unlikely to reach an agreement on pricing.
“The two sides are too far apart in the negotiations. From the Chinese government’s perspective, the budgetary impact will be huge because of the huge population that needs the drug,” he said.
Liu said Pfizer “doesn’t want to damage its global price integrity” by lowering the price on China. “Pfizer cannot sacrifice the global market for China,” he added.