Pfizer Rebuts Generic Version Of COVID-19 Oral Treatment In China, Says It's Not A Poor Country

Pfizer Inc PFE CEO Albert Bourla rebuffed reports saying the company is in talks with Chinese authorities to license a generic version of its Covid-19 treatment Paxlovid.
Bourla speaking at JPMorgan's healthcare conference, said, "We are not in discussions. We have an agreement already for local manufacturing of Paxlovid in China. So we have a local partner that will make Paxlovid for us, and then we will sell it to the Chinese market."
Related: New Oral COVID-19 Antiviral Might Be Better Than Pfizer's Paxlovid With Faster Recovery, Fewer Side Effects, Data Shows.
Bourla said the company shipped thousands of Paxlovid courses in 2022 to China and, in the past couple of weeks, had increased that to millions.
Concurrently, China's Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) declined to include Paxlovid in a national reimbursement list that would have allowed patients to get it at a lower price throughout the country.
Bourla added, "So they want it lower than the lowest of the middle, and we didn't agree. They are the second-highest economy in the world. And I don't think that they should pay less than Salvador, right, which is a poor country"..."We will continue with the private market in China, which is significant."
Price Action: PFE shares are up 0.10% at $48.44 during the premarket session on the last check Tuesday.
Photo via Company