The latest progress in monkeypox treatment drugs!
Recently, China National Pharmaceutical Group's China Biotech and the Military Medical Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences signed a technology transfer agreement for the treatment of monkeypox drug Tekavir.
Tekaviri is currently the only antiviral treatment drug approved for monkeypox worldwide. In 2010, TPO24 from SIGA Technologies, Inc. was granted orphan drug qualification by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of smallpox virus infection, and was approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of smallpox in adults and children weighing no less than 13kg in July 2018. It is the first approved anti smallpox drug. In 2022, the European Medicines Agency approved its marketing for the treatment of smallpox, monkeypox, and cowpox.
Tekavir is a small molecule broad-spectrum membrane protein inhibitor that inhibits the activity of the VP37 protein of the orthopox virus, prevents the formation of virus specific envelope complexes, prevents the export of infectious envelope viral particles, and thus inhibits the intercellular and remote transmission of the virus.
After the global scattered outbreak of monkeypox, China Biotech quickly carried out research and development on monkeypox from the three fields of diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. This cooperation with the Military Medical Research Institute will solve the situation where there is no specific anti monkeypox virus drug in China. In the future, according to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, we will quickly start the production of Tekavir raw materials and preparations, form a stable supply capacity, and provide guarantees for quickly responding to the risk of monkeypox outbreaks.
About Monkeypox
Monkeypox is a zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus infection, which has mainly occurred in Central and West Africa in the past. Since May 2022, more than 100 countries and regions around the world have experienced monkeypox outbreaks. Multiple epidemics have shown that monkeypox has been transmitted from person to person and widely spread to countries and regions outside of Africa, with a mortality rate of about 0.1%. In September 2022, China reported its first imported case of monkeypox, and local monkeypox outbreaks began in June 2023. Currently, more than 20 provinces across the country have reported monkeypox cases, leading to new local outbreaks and hidden transmission.
Considering that the monkeypox epidemic will continue to exist in China for a certain period of time, in order to further scientifically regulate the prevention and control of monkeypox epidemic, and effectively ensure the safety and health of the people, the National Health Commission issued a notice on September 15, stating that, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Law of the People's Republic of China, monkeypox will be included in the management of Class B infectious diseases from September 20, 2023, and measures will be taken to prevent and control Class B infectious diseases.
