(Yicai Global) July 26 -- A unit of Chinese drug giant Fosun Pharmaceutical Group has secured the exclusive rights to market China’s first Covid-19 oral drug, a treatment developed by Genuine Biotech.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Development will commercialize Azvudine in China, and advance the development of the medicine with Genuine Biotech, its parent company said in a statement yesterday. Fosun Pharma told Yicai Global that it was not yet able to say how much the drug will cost.

The announcement came on the same day as the National Medical Products Administration granted conditional approval to Azvudine to treat adults with mild Covid-19 symptoms.

Fosun Pharma Development and Genuine Biotech will also cooperate in the treatment and prevention of the novel coronavirus as well as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, Shanghai-based Fosun Pharma added.

This is not the first Azvudine deal Genuine Biotech has struck. In April, Xinhua Pharmaceutical revealed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Henan province-based drugmaker to produce and sell the Covid-19 pill in China.

Last month, Xinhua Pharma clarified that the deal was preliminary and non-exclusive. So, does the deal between Fosun Pharma Development and Genuine Biotech cut out Xinhua Pharma? Xinhua Pharma has not provided progress updates, but a source at Genuine Biotech told Yicai Global that the two are working together, without disclosing any details.

Fosun Pharma has made several moves regarding Covid-19 treatments since last year. Last July, Kintor Pharmaceutical signed an agreement with Fosun Pharma Development to market Covid-19 drug Proxalutamide in India and 28 African countries.

This year, Fosun Pharma Development received approval from the United Nations-backed public health organization Medicines Patent Pool to produce Merck’s Molnupiravir and Pfizer’s Nirmatrelvir to make Covid-19 pills affordable and accessible globally.

Editors: Chen Juan, Futura Costaglione