On January 20 local time, the medicines patent pool (MPP) announced through its official website that it had signed agreements with 27 pharmaceutical companies to allow them to produce and supply molnupiravir, an oral anti-covid-19 virus drug of methadone for 105 low-income countries or regions around the world, so as to promote the affordability and accessibility of the drug in the world.
Among them, five pharmaceutical enterprises are from China, namely Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.Ltd(600196) (600196. SH), Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) (688166. SH), Langhua pharmaceutical, Shijiazhuang Longze pharmaceutical and Shanghai desaino under viabio (01873. HK). Except that Langhua pharmaceutical is authorized to produce APIs, the other four pharmaceutical enterprises can produce APIs and finished drugs at the same time.
According to the agreement, 27 generic drug manufacturing companies can produce the API or finished product of methadone covid-19 oral drug without paying patent licensing fee.
Today (January 21), covid-19 oral drug concept stocks opened. The stock prices of Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.Ltd(600196) both rose by the limit at the beginning of trading, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.Ltd(600196) then opened the limit board, and as of the closing Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) rose by 20% to RMB 38.28, with the latest market value of RMB 15.7 billion; Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.Ltd(600196) rose 5.98% to 51.42 yuan, with the latest market value of 120 billion yuan
As of the third quarterly report, Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.Ltd(600196) had 7000 and 298000 shareholders respectively.
Hong Kong stocks rose 16.59% to HK $4.67 as of noon closing.
Authorized 5 Chinese enterprises to copy
Molnupiravir is an oral nucleoside drug under development. It works by interfering with virus replication to keep the virus level in the body at a low level, so as to reduce the severity of the disease. It was jointly developed by MSD and Ridgeback, a biotechnology company. At present, the drug has been authorized by FDA for emergency use and is suitable for the treatment of mild to moderate covid-19 pneumonia in high-risk adult patients.
Among the 27 enterprises that signed agreements with MMP, 5 companies will focus on the production of APIs, 13 companies will produce APIs and finished drugs at the same time, and 9 companies will produce finished drugs. It is noteworthy that five Chinese pharmaceutical enterprises, including Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.Ltd(600196) , Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) , Shijiazhuang Longze pharmaceutical, Shanghai deseno and Langhua pharmaceutical, are listed among them, of which the first four are licensed to produce APIs and finished drugs at the same time, and Langhua pharmaceutical is licensed to produce APIs.
MPP said that the licensed companies have successfully demonstrated their ability to meet MPP’s requirements for production capacity, regulatory compliance and international standards for quality assurance drugs.
According to the official website, the drug patent pool organization is a public health organization supported by the United Nations. It is committed to increasing access to life-saving drugs for low – and middle-income countries and promoting drug development. So far, MPP has signed agreements with a number of patent holders, involving 13 kinds of HIV antiretroviral drugs, one HIV technology platform, three direct acting antiviral agents for hepatitis C, one tuberculosis treatment, two long-term technologies, two COVID-19 experimental oral antiviral therapy and one COVID-19 antibody diagnostic test.
In addition to signing covid-19 oral drug related agreements with MSD, MPP also signed relevant agreements with Pfizer on covid-19 oral drug paxlovid. According to the release released on Pfizer’s official website on January 18 local time, Pfizer has signed a voluntary license agreement with the drug patent pool (MPP) to help expand its accessibility in 95 low – and middle-income countries, accounting for about 53% of the world’s population.
Involving several listed companies
Among the above five Chinese companies, two are A-share listed companies, namely Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co.Ltd(600196) and Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) , with a total of about 305000 shareholders.
At noon on January 21, Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) announced that it had signed a sublicense agreement with the drug patent pool Foundation (MPP) on December 23, 2021. MPP grants the company a non exclusive license to use the patents and MSD know-how in the region and in the field (i.e. for the treatment of covid-19 pneumonia) to carry out the production, commercialization and related rights of molnupiravir, an oral drug under development. The licensed areas are 105 low-income countries / regions such as India, Pakistan and C ô te d’Ivoire, excluding China.
Brightgene Bio-Medical Technology Co.Ltd(688166) said that the pricing of the product is expected to be lower than that of the original research product or in other middle and high-income countries. The specific price and production cost cannot be determined temporarily, and the impact on future performance cannot be predicted.
Langhua pharmaceutical, which is authorized to produce APIs, is a subsidiary of viabio and a major global manufacturer of quinolones, spironolactones, olanzapine, antiviral and other APIs.
At the same time, Jiangsu Aidea Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd(688488) (688488. SH) may also benefit. According to the company’s response on the investor interaction platform, the delivery of the company’s investment project in Shijiazhuang Longze Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. has been completed on January 18, 2021, and the relevant industrial and commercial change procedures have been completed on February 19, 2021. Up to now, the company holds 4.76% of the equity of Longze pharmaceutical.
In early trading Jiangsu Aidea Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd(688488) once rose by the limit, up 10.79% to 16.74 yuan / share
The global covid-19 epidemic continues to ferment, making covid-19 drug concept stocks the focus of the capital market.
Zhongtai Securities Co.Ltd(600918) pointed out that seeking effective drug treatment has been a priority since the outbreak of the epidemic. Compared with macromolecular drugs (such as neutralizing antibody drugs), small molecular oral drugs have the advantages of direct antiviral effect, low production cost and medication cost, easy storage and transportation conditions, convenient administration and good patient compliance. Oral covid-19 drugs are expected to become a more convenient choice for the treatment of covid-19 pneumonia in the future.
Southwest Securities Co.Ltd(600369) also mentioned that for the mutant strain, the effectiveness of the basic immunization of the existing vaccine for Omicron is low. The enhanced immunization of the vaccines of various technical routes against Omicron is slightly weaker than that of delta strain, but it can still maintain a high level of neutralizing antibody. Covid-19 vaccine, neutralizing antibody and small molecule oral medicine are effective combinations for anti epidemic.
In fact, China’s covid-19 oral drugs are also being promoted. At present, many domestic covid-19 oral drugs are in the clinical stage, including Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co.Ltd(688180) , developing pharmaceutical companies and so on.
According to the 21st Century Business Herald, the enterprises that distribute covid-19 oral small molecule drugs in China mainly include pioneering pharmaceutical industry, real biology, Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co.Ltd(688180) , Xiansheng pharmaceutical industry and Fujian Cosunter Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd(300436) pharmaceutical industry. Among them, the development of pharmaceutical industry, prochloramide and real biological azvudine have launched phase III clinical trials abroad; Vv116 of Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co.Ltd(688180) is undergoing clinical trials in China and Uzbekistan. The 3CL protease inhibitor candidate drugs of Xiansheng pharmaceutical and Fujian Cosunter Pharmaceutical Co.Ltd(300436) pharmaceutical industry are currently in the preclinical research stage.
