(Yicai Global) Jan. 18 -- Shanghai Junshi Biosciences has filed for its orally taken Covid-19 treatment to go to market in China after the medicine proved as effective as US pharma giant Pfizer’s Covid-19 tablet in clinical trials, with fewer reported side effects, the Chinese drug developer said today.

The application has been accepted by the National Medical Products Administration, Junshi said. In fact it is the second application for a Covid-19 pill to be accepted by the regulator this week, after Simcere Pharmaceutical Group’s filing on Jan. 16.

Clinical trials have shown Junshi’s VV116 tablet to have a significant effect against the original and variant strains of the novel coronavirus, including omicron, and there is no genotoxicity, the Shanghai-based firm said.

VV116 showed good progress in phase three clinical trials, Junshi said on its WeChat account on Dec. 29. Compared with New York based-Pfizer’s Paxlovid, VV116 has a shorter recovery period and fewer safety concerns when treating mild and moderate cases of Covid-19, it added.

In a clinical trial of 822 people in Shanghai from March to May, patients taking VV116 recovered after a median of four days, compared with five days for those on Paxlovid, according to a study published on by the New England Journal of Medicine on Dec. 29. The number of adverse events was lower in the VV116 group than in those taking Paxlovid, it said.

VV116, which is co-developed by Junshi, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Suzhou Vigonvita Life Sciences, is still undergoing secondary multi-center phase III clinical tests abroad, in a project led by Li Lanjuan of Zhejiang University School of Medicine.

Junshi and Suzhou, eastern Jiangsu province-based Vigonvita are responsible for the clinical development and sales of the drug worldwide. VV116 was approved for use in the treatment of moderate to severe cases of Covid-19 in Uzbekistan in 2021.

Junshi’s share price [HKG:1877] was trading up 0.6 percent at HKD41.90 (USD5) as of 3.30 p.m. China time today. While on the mainland, its stock [SHA:688180] closed up 0.2 percent at CNY62.68 (USD9.30).

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor