Asian Tech Press (Dec 29) -- Chinese COVID-19 oral drug candidate VV116 was noninferior to Paxlovid in treating mild-to-moderate Covid-19 patients, a study said.

The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) on Wednesday published online data from a phase III clinical trial of Chinese pharmaceutical company Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co.'s COVID-19 oral drug candidate VV116.

The phase III clinical study compared the efficacy and safety of VV116 and Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 oral antiviral drug Paxlovid in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19 including death.

The results showed that VV116 was noninferior to Paxlovid in terms of time to sustained clinical recovery, with fewer safety concerns. 

The study, led by Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University Medical College, is the first head-to-head phase III clinical study of a small molecule antiviral drug for Chinese patients with COVID-19 during the Omicron wave.