The Silicon Review ^Asia

In a clinical trial, 40.4 percent of patients given Azvudine showed improvement

China has given conditional approval to domestic firm Genuine Biotech's Azvudine pill, which is proven effective in treating certain adult patients with COVID-19. Thus, adding another oral treatment option against the coronavirus. The availability of effective COVID-19 treatments and vaccines is crucial in laying the foundation for China's potential shift from its "dynamic COVID zero" policy, which aims to eliminate every outbreak and relies on strict quarantining and mass testing. The Azvudine tablet, which China approved last year to treat certain HIV-1 virus infections, has been given a conditional green light to treat adult patients with "normal type" COVID-19, the National Medical Products Administration said in a statement. “Normal type" COVID-19 is a term China uses to refer to coronavirus infections where there are signs of pneumonia, but the patients haven't reached a severe stage.

In a late-stage clinical trial, 40.4 percent of patients who were administered Azvudine showed improvement in symptoms seven days after first taking the drug, compared with 10.9 percent in the control group, Henan province-based Genuine Biotech said in a statement earlier this month, without providing detailed readings. Other Chinese companies developing potential oral COVID-19 treatments include Shanghai Junshi Biosciences and Kintor Pharmaceutical.