China Approves Pfizer’s Covid-19 Treatment for Vulnerable Patients

China’s drug regulator has given conditional approval for emergency use of U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 antiviral medicine Paxlovid, becoming the first oral treatment cleared to treat patients in the country as authorities continue to battle ongoing flare-ups of the coronavirus.

Paxlovid will be used to treat adults suffering mild-to-moderate Covid-19-induced pneumonia and who are at high risk of developing severe illness, especially those that have co-morbidities like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) said in a statement Saturday (link in Chinese).