Chinese Anti-infective Drugs Make New Inroads Amid Challenges

Anti-infective drugs are various drugs used to treat infections caused by pathogens (viruses, chlamydia, mycoplasma, rickettsia, bacteria, spirochetes, fungi, worms, etc.). It is reported that the Chinese anti-infective drugs industry listed companies are Puluo Pharmaceutical, Zhejiang Pharmaceutical, North China Pharmaceutical, Jingxin Pharmaceutical, etc..

Zhejiang Pharmaceutical indicated that the future main research and development direction mainly includes anti-infection drugs, vitamin drugs, diabetes drugs, anti-tumor drugs and so on. As of the end of 2021, the company has 42 new drug and product projects under research, 11 declared production, generic drug quality and efficacy consistency evaluation has been declared and 17 under research.

Recently, Zhejiang Medicine announced that the anti-infective drug linezolid glucose injection passed the generic drug consistency evaluation. According to the information, linezolid is an inhibitor of bacterial protein synthesis and is indicated for the following infections in adults and children caused by susceptible Gram-positive bacteria: nosocomial pneumonia, community-acquired pneumonia, complicated skin or skin soft tissue infections, including uncomplicated diabetic foot infections with osteomyelitis, uncomplicated skin or skin soft tissue infections and vancomycin-resistant enterococcal infections.

Puluo Pharmaceutical has also recently made an announcement regarding anti-infective drugs, with its subsidiary Zhejiang Puluo Kangyu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. receiving a PQ (prequalification) confirmation letter from the World Health Organization (WHO) that the company's levofloxacin tablets have passed the WHO's PQ audit.

The information shows that levofloxacin has a strong antibacterial effect and a broad antibacterial spectrum, and is a first-line drug for clinical anti-infection. It can be used to treat infections caused by sensitive bacteria in adults (≥18 years old).

The anti-infective drug "Cefoxitin Sodium for Injection (1.0g/2.0g)" of North China Pharmaceuticals Hebei Huamin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was recently approved by the Drug Review Center of the State Drug Administration and passed the quality and efficacy consistency evaluation of generic drugs.

According to the information, cefoxitin sodium for injection is an anti-infective drug. It is suitable for infections of the upper and lower respiratory tract, bone and joint soft tissue infections, endocarditis infections and other infections caused by pathogenic bacteria sensitive to this product, especially for mixed aerobic and anaerobic infections, as well as for infections caused by β-lactamase-producing bacteria sensitive to this product.

In the field of anti-infective drugs, many companies are actively involved. In addition to the above companies, Jingxin Pharmaceutical said the company's existing drugs are mainly anti-infective drugs such as levofloxacin tablets, ciprofloxacin tablets, clarithromycin tablets, etc.

Since its establishment to the beginning of the listing, Jingxin Pharmaceutical has been operating quinolone anti-infective drug API as the main business. And Sunflower said that the company's leading products cover anti-infective drugs, cardiovascular drugs, digestive system drugs and other fields.

Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical also said that in terms of preparation, the company's products cover the therapeutic fields of cardiovascular, mental disorders, nervous system and anti-infective drugs, mainly including valsartan tablets, cloxartan potassium tablets, irbesartan hydrochlorothiazide tablets, paroxetine hydrochloride tablets, donepezil hydrochloride tablets, levetiracetam tablets, lamotrigine controlled-release tablets, and anrisentan tablets.

It is understood that infectious diseases refer to when pathogenic microorganisms or conditionally pathogenic microorganisms invade the host, through growth, reproduction and release of toxins, resulting in the imbalance of the micro-ecological balance in the body and become pathophysiological diseases. The development of anti-infective drugs has also progressed amidst the challenges.

The global pharmaceutical market can be divided into the chemical drugs market and the biologics market. In terms of therapeutic areas, the top market segments in the global pharmaceutical market in 2020 are GI and metabolic drugs, systemic anti-infective drugs and anti-tumor drugs, accounting for 14.5%, 12.4% and 11.6% of the global pharmaceutical market respectively.