"塩野義的候選新藥可以抑制病毒繁殖所需的酶作用，力爭通過在感染初期服藥來抑制重症化和改善發熱咳嗽等症狀，設想一天服用一次，連續服用 5 天，而這在日本將運用「附帶條件的快速審批制度」，預計 2021 年內申請批准。
日本已批准的治療藥物目前有 4 種，而能用在輕症患者的只有日本中外製藥的「抗體雞尾酒療法」，其前提是主要在醫院點滴注射，為了緩解醫療緊張的局面，建立可通過居家療養恢復的體制至關重要。"
"Asia’s pharmaceutical growth spurt comes at an opportune time, as deeper structural shifts in the global drug market undermine the West’s traditional edge. Over the last 10 years, patents have begun to expire on some of big pharma’s most profitable drugs, sapping revenue needed to produce and maintain profits from high-value products. Meanwhile, there has been an enormous growth in emerging markets where cheaper generic drugs are in high demand. These trends are forcing the West’s pharmaceutical giants to diversify toward generic production, where they lack the advantage of IP protections. Now they must compete with well-established generics manufacturers in countries like India and Thailand who are free to produce and sell their own versions of newly “off-patent” drugs at a fraction of the price. Asia’s pharmaceutical companies are in a favorable position to compete in the increasingly lucrative generics market while expanding into higher-value products on the back of the pandemic as big pharma’s portfolio of these products shrinks."
