Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical ^Company

Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical is developing, together with Chugai Pharmaceutical, a Humanized monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-6. At the same time, they are also working with Fujifilm Holdings in the development of an anti-viral agent that is designed to selectively and potently inhibit the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of RNA viruses, the drug favipiravir.

Regarding the first, tocilizumab, Peking University First Hospital on March 16 registered an up-to-150 patient study assessing it, marketed in China by Roche subsidiary Chugai Pharmaceutical, in combination with the Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical-marketed drug favipiravir in adults with COVID-19 (ChiCTR2000030894). A 94-patient trial assessing Tocilizumab alone has been registered by The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (Anhui Provincial Hospital) (ChiCTR2000029765). Regarding favipiravir (marketed by Fujifilm as Avigan® and by Hisun in China as Favilavir), Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters in March that his government will partner with other countries to launch trials of on COVID-19 patients and ramp up its production, with plans to pursue approval if it succeeds in clinical trials now underway at Fujita Health University Hospital in Aichi Prefecture and other institutions, according to NHK.