The Central News Agency reported that many people have seen the movie “I’m Not the God of Medicine”, which is based on the true story of a leukemia patient Lu Yong who purchased the generic anti-cancer drug Gleevec from India.
The report pointed out that overseas generic drugs of Pfizer’s COVID-19 oral drug “Paxlovid” and Merck’s “Molnupiravir” have quietly flowed into mainland China and are sold in the black market. The price is not cheap.
China has approved the import and use of “Belavi” in February. Patients must go to the hospital to see a doctor and get a prescription to get it. The medical insurance purchase price of medical institutions is 2,300 yuan (about NT$10,000). Today, it was once reported that the cable online pharmacy offered a pre-order price of 2980 yuan per box, but after the news came out, it was taken off the shelves urgently; “Monapiravir” has not yet been approved.
The report quoted a former purchasing agent from an overseas pharmaceutical company as pointing out that the generic drug “Beravi” it sells is produced by the Indian pharmaceutical company Azista. The domestic spot price is 1,200 yuan per box, and the off-the-shelf month-end product can be as cheap as 800 yuan; but recently In a few days, both the spot and end-of-the-month products have been sold out. “Now we can only accept pre-orders, and there is no stock in India. Those who need it will have to wait for the next batch next month.”
A purchasing agent from another channel also stated that the generic drug “Belavi” is currently out of stock in China. If you want to order, you need to pay a deposit of 200 yuan in advance, and it is expected to arrive in two weeks.
Merck’s “Monapiravir” overseas generic drug is also sold. According to a purchasing agent, the generic drugs are produced by ASEAN Pharmaceuticals in Laos, priced at 400 yuan per box, and are expected to arrive in 3 to 5 days.
However, the purchasing agent also said that the two generic drugs are prescription drugs for the treatment of COVID-19. In case of an unfortunate diagnosis, do not take it yourself, but seek the guidance of a doctor. The daigou even provided a Chinese version of the drug instructions.
According to reports, Indian pharmaceutical companies Azista and Laos ASEAN Pharmaceuticals are both on the list of development pharmaceutical companies officially allowed to imitate.
In this regard, Lu Yong, the deity of “I’m not the God of medicine”, posted on his Weibo on the 11th that the Indian imitation of Pfizer’s “Belavi” has been launched, and it is mainly used to treat severe diseases. This medicine is a prescription medicine, do not buy it casually. The price of the drug in India is less than 1,000 yuan; currently it takes about 30 days to mail from India to China.
He reminded the public that there are many counterfeit medicines pretending to be Indian generic medicines and produced in some countries. The efficacy of the medicines is unreliable and may be harmful. I appeal to everyone not to panic, not to be deceived, and not to buy blindly.