At 3 pm on the first day of Chinese New Year, the conference room on the first floor of the Red Cross Society of Zhejiang Province was ablaze in the red glow of festive lanterns to ring in a major donation ceremony was being held. The novel coronavirus epidemic was continuing to spread, and some enterprises had chosen to express their support for the affected areas in various ways through the Red Cross. The management of the board of directors of Zhejiang Medicine Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Zhejiang Medicine”) paid close attention to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, and were deeply concerned about the safety of the persons and medical staff working in the front line. According to the instructions of Chairman Li Chunbo, the company donated 2 million yuan worth of antiviral drugs, specifically nemonoxacin malate capsules (trade name “Taijiexin”, a class 1.1 new drug), and donated 1 million yuan to infected areas in Hubei and Zhejiang through the Red Cross Society of Zhejiang Province.
As a listed, large-scale pharmaceutical with a history of 65 years, Zhejiang Medicine Co., Ltd. has now become an important site for the domestic and international production and sale of fat-soluble vitamins, retinoids, quinolone antibiotics, and anti-resistance antibiotics. The donated Taijiexin (Nanofloxacin Malate Capsule) is a new class 1 drug developed by Zhejiang Medicine, was launched in 2016, and entered the national medical insurance directory after national-level negotiations were conducted in 2019. This drug is one of the world's first new non-fluorinated quinolones (NFQs), and is effective at treating drug-resistant bacteria with favorable safety factors. It provides a particularly effective weapon for treating infectious diseases such as community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Taijiexin covers a broad spectrum of common CAP pathogens and is effective against Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureas (MRSA). It is currently the only oral quinolone drug that can cover MRSA pathogens. It is clearly stated in “Wuhan Xiehe Hospital's Strategies and Instructions for Treating Novel Coronavirus Infections in 2019” that “Anti-Virals, Anti-Streptococcus Pneumonia, & Anti-Staphylococcus Aureus” drugs are the currently recommended core treatment for this condition. The specifics of the treatment plan is: if the infection continues to progress after taking oseltamivir and moxifloxacin, it is recommended to take (1)abidol & nenofloxacin orally (Taijiexin), or (2)abidol & lina zolamide orally or intravenously, and vancomycin can also be used to replace the linezolid.
Zhejiang Medicine has always taken “caring for human health” as its core purpose. While continuously producing high-quality medicines for society, creating our own business value and social wealth, we remain fully aware of the principle of “Repaying Society for Its Gifts to US”, and spares no effort in donating to public welfare charities, especially to disaster relief. In one case, Zhejiang Medicine donated more than 4.3 million yuan in medicines and goods to support SARS relief during the outbreak in 2003. When the severe earthquake occurred in Wenchuan on May 12, 2008, Zhejiang Medicine provided immediate assistance, donating 2.26 million yuan in medicine and 1.74 million yuan in cash to the disaster area. In 2010, Zhejiang Medicine and its subsidiaries donated a total of 5.1 million to Yushu earthquake-stricken areas.
In the face of the novel coronavirus epidemic, Zhejiang Medicine has both a duty and responsibility to offer all the help it can. After studying the epidemic situation, Chairman Li Chunbo immediately held a special meeting, asking everyone in the company to give top priority to people's lives and health, formulate a thorough response plan, take practical measures, implement the company’s responsibilities, and operate at full capacity to ensure the timely, high-quality supply of infection treatment products including Neroxafloxacin Malate Capsules (Taijiexin), Levofloxacin (Lailixin), Vancomycin (Laikexin), and Linezolid (Laiding). Company employees including those of the purchasing, production, quality inspection, warehousing, sales, logistics, and other departments gave up their Spring Festival holiday, returning to work two days before Chinese New Year. They worked overtime, racing against time to make every effort to ensure the supply of urgently needed medicine. Since everyone is concerned for the epidemic area, they worked together and devoted themselves to ensure that these urgently needed drugs are donated to areas suffering from the epidemic as quickly as possible. At present, these medicines are ready for shipment and will be delivered to designated locations in batches according to the guidance of the Red Cross of Zhejiang Province.
These donations were made by Zhejiang Medicine as a member of society, and the company has been doing its utmost to contribute to the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, assuming its due social responsibility as a pharmaceutical company. In the future, Zhejiang Medicine will communicate with the Red Cross of Zhejiang Province regarding the delivery of the second batch of donations, which consist of 3.1 million yuan worth of Nanofloxacin Malate Capsules (Taijiexin) sent to key epidemic areas in Wuhan. The company fully supports front-line patients and medical staff, and will use all the company's power to supply emergency medicines to the front line of the crisis as quickly as possible. As long as people from all walks of life actively perform their duties and work together under the leadership of the Party Central Committee, care for themselves and others, and contribute their sincerity and strength, then we firmly believe we can win this battle quickly.