Desperate for a cure for the new coronavirus spreading quickly across
the country, Chinese families are flocking online to search for
experimental remedies that may be effective against the virus, despite
government warnings that no proven treatment has been found.
Among the most sought-after drugs is Kaletra, an antiretroviral for
HIV made by U.S. pharmaceutical giant AbbVie Inc. that blocks the
enzymes some viruses need to replicate.
Relatives of Chen Ruoping joined a scramble for the drug, known in
Mandarin as Kelizhi, after the 57-year-old developed a fever and was
diagnosed with a lung infection last month. Mr. Chen, who lives at the
epicenter of the outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, was
turned away at overrun hospitals that had run out of diagnostic kits for
the coronavirus, pushing his son online for help.
“Does anyone in Wuhan have Kelizhi?” the younger Mr. Chen wrote on
China’s Twitter-like Weibo social-media platform. “I’m begging everyone.
I will be responsible for all the consequences.”
The outbreak has infected more than 24,000 people and killed at least
490, the vast majority in Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the
capital. Chinese medical researchers are optimistic about Kaletra’s
potential to treat the coronavirus in part because it was previously
effective in combating severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, also
caused by a coronavirus that originated in China. Registry records show
that researchers in China have applied to test more than 10 drugs on
virus patients, including the antimalarial chloroquine, HIV
antiretroviral darunavir and several flu medicines.
Wuhan has designated roughly two dozen hospitals for the treatment of
the coronavirus and has rushed to build or repurpose several other
facilities to treat the most severe cases. That still leaves thousands
of confirmed and suspected patients in self-quarantine either at home or
in hotels, with limited access to doctors. And with the city’s
hospitals overcrowded and short on experimental drugs, some who suspect
they may be infected are now taking their treatment into their own
hands.
It isn’t unusual for ailing people in China to turn to black or gray
markets for drugs. As in the U.S., the prices of many cutting-edge
medications such as cancer drugs are out of reach for regular patients,
leading some to try to seek out cheaper generics through unapproved
channels, or even to mix their own from raw materials purchased online.
As the Wuhan outbreak picked up speed in late January, China’s
National Health Commission warned that no antiviral medications had been
found to be effective, but nevertheless suggested a mix of the
antiretroviral drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, the same combination used
in Kaletra.
The following day, Wang Guangfa, a respiratory specialist at Peking
University First Hospital, said he took the two drugs after becoming
infected with the new virus while treating patients in Wuhan.
“Many patients generally need more than a week or two weeks for their
condition to improve,” Dr. Wang told state media. His temperature began
to drop within a day of taking the Kaletra mix, he said.
Taking powerful medication without a doctor’s supervision is
dangerous, but the reports of Dr. Wang’s success convinced the Chen
family to risk it. Mr. Chen had recently undergone 12 rounds of
chemotherapy for rectal cancer. The new coronavirus has been
particularly fatal for older men with other medical conditions.
“My dad is very weak. Chemo destroyed his immune system,” said his son, who declined to give his name.
The challenge was finding the drug. China’s government typically only
supplies Kaletra to HIV patients with a doctor’s prescription.
Chicago-based AbbVie said last month that it had donated about $2
million worth of the drug as an “experimental option” in response to a
request by Chinese health authorities. But access was limited even
inside Wuhan hospitals.
Another Wuhan resident with the surname Chen, who is unrelated to
Chen Ruoping, said her 32-year-old husband who was treated for the virus
at Wuhan No. 9 Hospital was denied the drug.
“We requested Kaletra but doctors told us it was under strict controls,” she said.
A worker answering the phone at the hospital’s pharmacy said
Wednesday that its stock of Kaletra was small and that it was only being
administered to patients with severe symptoms.
Asked to comment, AbbVie referred to an earlier statement from last
week promising to supply enough Kaletra for both the national HIV/AIDS
program and the fight against the new coronavirus. The National Health
Commission didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
For many virus patients, unofficial channels are the only option.
One supplier is an HIV patient based in the city of Zhengzhou, known
online as “Brother Squirrel,” who runs a platform for fellow
HIV-positive people to discuss medications. After seeing news that the
drug could have the potential to treat the Wuhan virus, he said he
called on users to donate extra supplies.
“I didn’t know there was such a huge demand,” said the supplier, who
only gave his surname, Li. Within a week, Mr. Li said, he had collected
enough for 100 patients and was giving it away free, with priority given
to infected doctors.
Selling prescription drugs without a license is illegal in China, but
donating them isn’t, Mr. Li explained. He said he recently ordered 428
packs of the generic version from India, where prices are rising
quickly.
Sellers have been offering Kaletra for between 1,000 and 5,000 yuan
($142-$714) for each pack of 120 pills on Xianyu, a secondhand online
marketplace owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., equal
to about one month’s treatment.
Xianyu removed the listings shortly after The Wall Street Journal
contacted Alibaba for comment. “The Xianyu marketplace strictly
prohibits illicit and illegal behavior by third-party sellers on its
platforms,” a Xianyu spokesman said in a statement. “We will also
continue to take action against sellers who violate laws or our
product-listing policy.”
HIV patients can get Kaletra free at designated HIV/AIDS hospitals,
or for around $100 a pack with a prescription, according to Mr. Li.
Bai Hua, the director of a Beijing-based nonprofit advocacy group for
people living with HIV, said he was preserving his supplies of the drug
for HIV patients but gave in to one request from a coronavirus patient
in Hubei.
“He begged so much, it was almost like he was kneeling down in front of me, so I gave him a pack,” Mr. Bai said.
People tend to rush to hoard any medical treatment mentioned in the state media, Mr. Bai said.
A similar dynamic has swirled around shuanghuanglian, a traditional
Chinese cold remedy that China’s official Xinhua News Agency, citing
experts, said was effective in curbing growth of the new virus. Within
hours, photos proliferated on social media of people standing in long
lines to buy the herbal liquid, made with honeysuckle, forsythia and a
type of flowering mint known as skullcaps.
The following day, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece newspaper, the
People’s Daily, tried to calm the frenzy, saying on its official Weibo
account that the remedy wasn’t a cure or treatment for the virus. But by
then the country’s inventory had already been sold out.
Health authorities are likewise trying to damp enthusiasm for Kaletra
and its generic equivalents, pointing to possible side-effects like
liver damage and allergic reactions.
On Monday, Chen Ruoping secured a donation of 30 Kaletra pills,
enough for seven days, from a kindhearted stranger in Wuhan, his son
said. Following a suggestion the family read about in a news story
online, Mr. Chen combined the dosage of Kaletra with the influenza
medication Tamiflu.
After one day on the cocktail, the younger Mr. Chen said, his
father’s blood-oxygen level had risen to 80 from 70 — still below
normal, but at least an improvement.
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