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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (195136)	1/6/2023 6:25:14 PM
From: TobagoJack	1 Recommendation Recommended By fred woodall Respond to of 217620

following along ...

To: TobagoJack who wrote (195136)	1/8/2023 11:48:19 AM
From: Pogeu Mahone	Respond to of 217620

China says talks to include Paxlovid in its health insurance drug list fail Paxlovid is shown in this picture illustration 1 Sun, January 8, 2023 at 5:39 AM EST·2 min read In this article: Coronavirus BEIJING (Reuters) - China will not include Pfizer Inc's Paxlovid in an update to its list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes as the U.S. firm quoted a high price for the COVID-19 drug, China's Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said on Sunday. The COVID-19 antiviral drug is currently covered by the country's broad healthcare insurance scheme under temporary measures the regulator introduced in March last year as outbreaks rose. But authorities held talks with Pfizer in recent days to decide whether to include it in the latest version of their list, which they update on an annual basis. Inclusion on the list means a drug is accessible via state insurance schemes, which will boost volumes but comes with the condition that manufacturers lower prices. Past rounds have seen drugmakers cut prices by as much as 62% after negotiations with officials. Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The NHSA said Paxlovid would continue to be eligible to be paid for by state medical insurance until the current planned end-date to the temporary measures of March 31. While the talks on Paxlovid failed, they succeeded with two other COVID-19 treatment drugs -- herbal medication Qingfei Paidu granules and Chinese drugmaker Genuine Biotech's Azvudine -- which will be included in the list's update, the regulator said. Three years into the pandemic, China began pivoting away from its signature "zero COVID" policy last month after historic protests against the economically-damaging curbs that had been championed by President Xi Jinping. The sudden loosening of restrictions has fueled a giant wave of infections and prompted many to turn to underground channels to procure remedies such as Paxlovid, which a clinical trial has found to have reduced hospitalisations in high-risk patients by around 90%. Boxes of Paxlovid are changing hands for as much as 50,000 yuan ($7,313.15), more than 20 times the original price of 2,300 yuan, according to local media reports and social media posts. Beijing has been largely resistant to western vaccines, but has greenlighted foreign oral treatments Paxlovid and Merck's Molnupiravir. It approved Paxlovid in February. Reuters reported on Saturday, citing sources, that China is in talks with Pfizer to secure a licence that will allow domestic drugmakers to manufacture and distribute a generic version of Paxlovid. Last month, China Meheco Group Co Ltd said on Wednesday it signed an agreement with Pfizer to import and distribute Paxlovid in mainland China. Pfizer also signed a deal in August for Chinese drugmaker Zhejiang Huahai to produce Paxlovid in mainland China solely for patients there. ($1 = 6.8370 Chinese yuan renminbi) (This story has been corrected to clarify the spelling of Genuine Biotech COVID-19 drug is Azvudine, not Azuvdine) (Reporting by Brenda Goh, Yingzhi Yang and Roxanne Liu; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Elaine Hardcastle)