Chinanews.com, Beijing, December 20th (Wei Xianghui) Recently, a topic about "New Crown Indian generic drugs sold for thousands of yuan per box" appeared on Weibo's hot search list.
Some drug purchasing agents introduced to Chinanews.com that the spot has been sold out and needs to be booked one week in advance.
Doctors reminded not to buy medicines through informal channels. In addition, non-high-risk groups do not need to use new crown oral medicines.
The picture shows the sales information of the Indian new crown generic drugs on sale and the circle of friends of a purchasing agent.
Drawing: Wei Xianghui
The original price of 2300 yuan a box of medicines purchased in India is 1600 yuan
"Now the order is full." A number of Indian drug purchasing agents told Chinanews.com that the generic drug Paxlovid, Pfizer's new crown oral drug, has been sold out recently. If necessary, they can only pay a deposit first, at the earliest a week later It can be shipped, but it will take until next month if it is slow.
If you enter words such as "India's new crown" and "new crown generic drug" on the e-commerce platform, consumers can quickly find the information of these purchasing agents, but they generally ask to add WeChat friends, and then inform them of specific goods information and purchase requirements.
The Paxlovid generics sold by these daigou include two types, Primovir in green packaging and Paxista in blue packaging. The former is produced by the Indian company Astrica, and the latter is produced by Azista, a subsidiary of Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero.
At present, Primovir in green packaging has been discontinued, and only Paxista in blue packaging is still on sale.
According to a shopping agent, domestic spot goods cost 1,600 yuan per box, and overseas direct mail costs 1,200 yuan per box, which is 400 yuan cheaper.
The medical insurance purchase price of Paxlovid in my country is 2,300 yuan per box.
These generic drugs are currently difficult to buy in stock.
The above-mentioned purchasing agent said that the order can be accepted, and the direct mail from India will arrive in China in about 15-20 days.
He also proposed that each person can only purchase 2 boxes.
The green-packaged generics have been discontinued, and the blue-packaged versions are now mostly sold.
Doctor reminds: stay vigilant
In fact, Paxlovid has long been used in the treatment of new coronavirus infection in my country, but it is mainly used in some designated hospitals and requires a doctor's prescription authorization. Not all hospitals have the drug.
It is worth noting that some generic drugs sold by daigou do not even require a prescription.
In this regard, professional doctors remind everyone to be vigilant.
"As professional doctors, we don't advocate buying foreign imitations, because it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of these drugs." Zhang Jiming, deputy director of the National Center for Infectious Disease Medicine, chief physician, professor, and doctoral supervisor of Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, told Sino-Singapore Some of the patients he treated or their family members bought generic drugs privately, and they were worried that what they bought were fakes.
He said that when buying generic drugs from abroad, it is difficult to ensure the quality of generic drugs from the source, and it is also difficult to guarantee the storage conditions of drugs.
Zhang Jiming introduced that the new crown oral medicine is mainly used to prevent severe diseases for high-risk groups, and it must be used in the early stage to be effective.
There is no need for non-high-risk groups to rush to buy, and abuse may induce drug resistance.
It is not necessary clinically, because most patients are asymptomatic or mild, and the course of the disease is self-limited.
He told Chinanews.com that as far as the situation in Shanghai is concerned, medical institutions such as major hospitals and designated hospitals for the treatment of the new crown generally have a certain amount of anti-new coronavirus drugs for use by high-risk groups infected with the new crown virus who meet the indications. Prevent severe disease and reduce fatality rate.
In addition, according to media reports, legal professionals reminded that the Indian new crown generic drugs sold online have not yet been approved in our country.
Under the current "Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China", although drugs that have been marketed abroad but have not been approved in China are no longer simply identified as counterfeit drugs, operators will still face administrative penalties for illegally imported drugs.
Domestic new crown oral medicine is on sale
So far, the State Food and Drug Administration has approved two new crown oral drugs, namely imported Paxlovid and domestically produced Azvudine.
Azivudine tablets, a new crown oral drug, are on sale in Zhengzhou at 330 yuan per bottle.
Image source: Wechat official account of Dahe Daily
On the 15th, China Medicines and Health Industry Co., Ltd. announced that it has signed an agreement with Pfizer, the pharmaceutical manufacturer of Paxlovid, and will be responsible for its import and distribution in the Chinese mainland market within the agreement period.
The agreement will come into effect on December 14, 2022 and will end on November 30, 2023.
On the 17th, according to the "Dahe Daily Yu Video" report, there are already hospitals in Zhengzhou that sell the domestically produced new crown oral drug Azvudine at 330 yuan per bottle, which can be purchased by prescription at fever clinics.
Qian Jiangping, the medical director of Zhengzhou Minsheng Otolaryngology Hospital, said that due to the control of sales and production of the drug, priority will be given to patients with severe symptoms of the new crown.
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