Two Chinese COVID-19 medicines receive emergency approval

The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has given emergency approval to the registration application of two COVID-19 medicines, BRII-196 and BRII-198.

This is China’s first approved COVID-19 virus-neutralizing antibody combination therapy with independent intellectual property rights.

The two medicines are used in combination to treat adult and adolescent patients with mild and moderate symptoms and with severe risk factors for progression, according to the NMPA.

Specifically, the medicines are conditionally approved for adolescents ranging from 12 to 17 years of age with a bodyweight greater than 40 kg.

Tsinghua University, the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen and Brii Biosciences have jointly developed the cocktail therapy of monoclonal antibodies BRII-196 and BRII-198, which are derived from antibodies isolated from people who have recovered from COVID-19.