On April 3, 2022, Ascletis' distributor, Zhejiang Int'l Medicine Co., Ltd. ("Zhejiang Int'l"), completed the first sale of Ascletis' ritonavir tablets in Zhejiang Province. Zhejiang Int'l is a major company engaged in the wholesale and retail of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment in Zhejiang Province.

As a leading antiviral company in China, to date, Ascletis owns the only authorized ritonavir tablet in China, which has passed bioequivalence study. Ascletis' ritonavir tablet was approved in September 2021 by China National Medical Products Administration (国药准字 H20213698).

Ritonavir tablet is a pharmacokinetic booster of multiple oral antiviral drugs targeting viral proteases. Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 9) released on March 15, 2022 by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China includes PF-07321332/ritonavir (Paxlovid) as an antiviral therapy for COVID-19.

Ascletis has further expanded its ritonavir tablet production capacity to approximately 530 million tablets per year to secure the supplies. Ascletis has submitted marketing authorization applications for ritonavir (100 mg film-coated tablet) in 12 European countries (Germany, France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark) and Hong Kong, China.

Dr. Jinzi J. Wu, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Ascletis, said, "It's a great pleasure that the first sale of Ascletis' ritonavir tablets in Zhejiang Province has been completed. Ascletis' antiviral pipeline includes two novel oral drug candidates against COVID-19, ASC10 (targeting RNA dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp)) and ASC11 (targeting 3-chymotrypsin like protease (3CLpro)), with global intellectual property. We hope to contribute to 'Healthy Zhejiang' and 'Healthy China' as well as the fights against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases."