China granted emergency approval for Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill in a promising sign the country could open up further to foreign vaccines and treatments for the virus.
Paxlovid’s import registration was approved Friday, the National Medical Products Administration said in a statement on its website Saturday. The Chinese regulator requires relevant research work to continue to be carried out, with conditional requirements completed within a time limit, and the follow-up research results submitted in a timely manner, according to the statement.
The emergency approval is the first China has given to a drug or vaccine developed by a foreign country for COVID-19. The mRNA COVID vaccine co-developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which China’s Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. secured rights to for the Greater China region, has not yet been approved in China.
