(Yicai Global) Jan. 31 -- The retail price of Simcere Pharmaceutical’s orally taken Covid-19 treatment, which was only approved to go to market in China two days ago, has been set at 40 percent of the cost of US pharma giant Pfizer’s Paxlovid tablet.

A course of Xiannuoxin, China's first homegrown 3CL protease inhibitor pill to be approved for sale, will cost CNY750 (USD111), the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said yesterday. Paxlovid, which is also a protease inhibitor, retails for CNY1,890 a box.

Simcere said earlier that as a completely independently produced medicine, Xiannuoxin will be priced much lower than Paxlovid. It will be distributed through multiple channels such as hospitals and online clinics to reach a wide range of patients.

The active pharmaceutical ingredients in a Xiannuoxin pill, which consist of 0.37 grams simnotrelvir and 0.1 g ritonavir, account of just under half of the total cost at CNY334.53 (USD49.50), according to the Beijing bureau. Nanjing-based Simcere spent CNY502 million (USD74 million) developing the drug.

There are three other Covid-19 tablets on the market, but they are RdRp inhibitors. These include US pharma giant Merck’s Monogravir capsules which cost CNY1,500 (USD222) per course, compatriot Genuine Biotech’s Azvudine tablets which retails for CNY445 a carton and Jushi Bioscience’s VV116. VV116 was given the greenlight the same day as Xiannoxin and the pricing has not yet been released.

Simcere’s share price [HKG:2096] edged up 0.5 percent to trade at HKD10.76 (USD1.37) as of 2 p.m. China time today. Earlier in the day it surged 7.4 percent to hit HKD11.52.

Editor: Kim Taylor