China tests drug to treat Covid-19, Thailand speeds up vaccination for pregnant women
China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) recently announced that one of its Covid-19 treatment drugs has been approved for clinical trials. Meanwhile, Thailand is speeding up the process of vaccinating pregnant women against the disease.
According to an announcement by Chinese vaccine maker - China National Biotechnology Group (CNBG), a subsidiary of Sinopharm, they have been approved for clinical trials of a drug to treatCovid-19based on human immunoglobulin (pH4) developed from the plasma of a recovered patient on August 30.
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| Sinopharm's (China) Covid-19 treatment drug. Photo: CNBG |
This is a new drug that uses biological products for treatment, and is also the first Covid-19 specific drug in the world prepared from the plasma of healthy people after being vaccinated with an inactivated vaccine against Covid-19.
“This drug uses plasma from recovered patients and immunized patients as raw materials, and has shown very good effects on patients with mild to severe disease during the previous emergency use period,” said Chu Jingxin, head of CNBG’s global phase III clinical project for the Covid-19 vaccine.
The drug was announced at the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) being held in Beijing.
In addition to the new drug, CNBG also introduced six other anti-epidemic products at the fair, including two updated vaccines effective against Beta and Delta variants, a recombinant protein vaccine and an mRNA vaccine, and another Covid-19 treatment drug based on monoclonal antibodies.
CNBG has been producing plasma products made from donated plasma from recovered patients since early 2020, which is believed to be an effective treatment for critically ill Covid-19 patients.
However, CNBG did not disclose the location and time of the clinical trials. Meanwhile, according to experts, it is not known how long the clinical trials will last because there are not many patients in China at present.
Experts also note that the drug will be limited to critically ill patients, as it may be expensive, but is still cheaper than monoclonal antibody drugs.
According to CNBG, it takes at least a week from plasma collection to preparation of products that can be used on Covid-19 patients. On average, a recovered patient can donate 400ml of plasma to save 2 or 3 patients in critical condition.
Meanwhile, the Thai government's Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has asked hospitals nationwide to speed up vaccinations for 500,000 pregnant women, who are at high risk of Covid-19 infection.
The Thai government plans to vaccinate 500,000 pregnant women over 12 weeks, according to CCSA assistant spokesperson Dr. Apisamai Srirangsan. So far, only about 45,400 have received the first dose and about 5,000 have been fully vaccinated.
Concerns are growing about the risk of Covid-19 among pregnant women in Thailand, following a sharp increase in new cases over the past month. The number of new cases reported among pregnant women has increased from 819 in July to 1,506 on August 28. So far, 69 pregnant women and 29 newborns have died from Covid-19.
The Thai government’s Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration has asked hospitals nationwide to contact pregnant women over 12 weeks or women who have just given birth to get vaccinated against Covid-19. In addition, Thailand also affirmed the goal of vaccinating at least 70% of people in the risk group in 29 provinces and cities in the “dark red” zone, which requires maximum and strict control, by the end of September./.
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