Chinese people 'boiling' to hunt for 'miracle flu medicine'

Recently, China has faced a strong outbreak of influenza, causing the demand for treatment drugs such as Marboxil to increase and become scarce.

Marboxil, a "godlike" flu treatment drug in China, is currently facing a shortage due to increased demand during the flu season - Photo: XINHUA

On January 6, the Global Times quoted information from the Chinese National Center for Disease Control and Prevention saying that more than 99% of positive flu cases in China currently belong to the A/H1N1 flu subtype.

This has caused a surge in demand for flu medications such as Oseltamivir, Arbidol, Baloxavir, Marboxil, Zanamivir and Peramivir in many localities.

Among them, Marboxil (trade name Xofluza), a drug dubbed the "miracle flu drug", has become the focus of a massive drug buying trend in China. Previously, Marboxil was sold for about 222 yuan per box (20mg x 2 tablets) under health insurance.

However, at present, in some pharmacies in China, the price for each box of Marboxil has been pushed up to 300 yuan. Many pharmacies are in a serious shortage of goods, even out of stock.

Through searching on online service platforms (apps), many pharmacies in China are currently experiencing a shortage of Marboxil.

Product pages are displaying messages like "only 2 boxes left" or "only 1 box left", and some pharmacies have even updated the status to "out of stock".

Meituan app data shows that the number of people infected with influenza A increased by 130% compared to the same period in 2024 in the past week, and the demand for Marboxil has also continued to increase.

In addition to the increase in flu cases, the quick action and convenience of Marboxil are among the reasons why it is sought after.

"This medicine is currently in high demand, while many other areas have run out of stock, causing the price to be higher than usual," a pharmacy employee told Blue Whale News, a website specializing in data analysis in China.

Before being approved for inclusion in China's medical insurance drug list, the retail price of Marboxil was 498 yuan per box.

After approval, the price of Marboxil dropped to more than 220 yuan per box, meaning the price of each pill was still over 100 yuan.

As early as winter 2023, Marboxil and Oseltamivir were considered by Chinese consumers as "miracle flu drugs" and quickly became a hit in the market.

At that time, Marboxil was in a prolonged shortage in many pharmacies across China, with the retail price skyrocketing to 599 yuan per box.

Faced with the situation of people rushing to buy and stockpile flu treatment drugs, Chinese medical experts have warned that the drug Marboxil is only approved for use in treating flu, with no clear evidence of its preventive effect.

At the same time, Chinese experts also emphasized that the current supply of antiviral drugs for influenza is still sufficient to meet domestic demand.

Therefore, they advised Chinese people not to hoard medicine, which would cause waste and could aggravate local shortages in some areas.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-trung-quoc-soi-suc-san-lung-than-duoc-tri-cum-20250106200744945.htm