A Chinese health-care platform has started selling Pfizer's oral COVID-19 medicine Paxlovid while Henan Genuine Biotech Co'sAzvudine will be available online imminently, news portal Jiemian.com reported on Tuesday.
People can purchase the Pfizer medication on the 111.com app if they submit a positive COVID-19 test result. Both antigen-test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results can be used as valid proof.
Paxlovid is priced at 2,980 yuan (US$427) per box on 111.com, and will be dispatched on the day of purchase if the order is placed before 6pm, according to the company's Beijing warehouse.
The pills sold out just over half an hour after the listing was reported in media, the platform's customer service said.
Meanwhile, Fosun Pharma, the exclusive marketer of the domestically made Azvudine, another oral COVID drug, confirmed that the medication will start selling on JD.com and jianke.com.
Paxlovid was approved by China in February and Azvudine was approved in July. They have been available through hospitals to treat high-risk patients in several provinces.
