Economic Observer Network reporterQu Yixian On August 4, the combination drug Enshida (for the new crown prevention and neutralizing antibody) AstraZeneca announced a strategic cooperation with WuXi Biologics at the 2022 Taihu Bay Life and Health Future Conference for the localized production of sagvirumab combined with sigavirumab (English name: Evusheld).
AstraZeneca’s global executive vice president, international business and China president Wang Lei told Economic Observer: “We hope to switch to local production as soon as possible, of course, it depends on the state’s approval of local production. As a result, it is hoped that local production can be transferred to about one year after import approval.”
Wang Lei said that if all goes well, the neutralizing antibody will be produced at Wuxi Biologics’ Wuxi factory. In addition, WuXi Biologics is already producing the raw materials for this neutralizing antibody, and hopes to produce finished products on this basis. The specific production capacity will be based on market demand, and the finished products produced will not only be supplied to the Chinese market, but also to the global market.
Wang Lei said that for this neutralizing antibody, AstraZeneca is currently applying for an import approval document. The epidemic situation around the world is still developing, and a large number of orders are placed in response to the impact of the epidemic in some countries. In the case of insufficient production capacity, we hope to achieve localized production in China.
AstraZeneca’s new crown prevention neutralizing antibody combination drug obtained emergency use authorization in the United States at the end of last year, and obtained marketing authorization in the European Union in March this year and conditional listing in the United Kingdom The license was approved by the Hong Kong Department of Health in May this year, and in June this year, it passed the special import approval for the Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone for pre-exposure prevention of the new coronavirus. The drug is currently approved and available in many countries around the world.
On July 9, the first injection of this antibody was completed in the Lecheng Pioneer Zone. On August 4, Economic Observatory asked Boao Super Hospital, one of the two hospitals that can apply for this antibody injection. The other party said that the first batch of imported antibodies in its hospital had been used up, and it is currently out of stock. When will it be available? Arrival is not sure yet. Another injectable hospital, Ruijin Hainan Hospital, said that the current supply is relatively sufficient.
Evusheld consists of two fully human long-acting monoclonal antibodies tesagvirumab and sigavirumab, which can mimic the body’s natural antibody defense mechanism, By binding to different sites on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, it reduces the virus’s ability to enter and infect healthy cells and helps clear infected cells.
Qu Jieming, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chief Physician of the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, previously told Economic Observer that from the perspective of preventing infectious diseases, vaccines are the most effective way However, there are also some groups of people who are not suitable for vaccination due to various reasons, such as contraindications, or incomplete immune response, vaccinated but the immune effect is not good. And immune vulnerable people need more protection, because this part of the population is susceptible to infection, and it is easy to develop into severe disease after infection.
Qu Jieming said that in the future, the epidemic will enter the stage of normalized prevention and control. If the key groups, vulnerable groups, vulnerable groups and people who are prone to develop into severe and critical illness after infection can get the first Better protection can truly achieve normalized prevention and control, and there will be no run on medical resources.
From the perspective of protecting immune-vulnerable people, Evusheld, as a long-acting neutralizing antibody against the new coronavirus, is preferentially suitable for the new coronavirus in people with impaired immune function or low immunity Infection prevention, including patients with hematological malignancies or other tumors undergoing chemotherapy, patients receiving medication after organ transplantation, patients on dialysis, patients with diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis who are taking immunosuppressive drugs. In addition, Evusheld can provide “immediate” and “long-lasting” protection for people who are ineffective with vaccines and need additional protection in addition to vaccines.