VV116, an innovative drug for the treatment of COVID-19, was initially identified as a drug candidate through the collaborative research conducted by the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (SIMM) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) of CAS, the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (XTIPC) of CAS, etc. Subsequently, the clinical trials and drug approval of VV116 were advanced by the joint efforts of the Central Asian Center of Drug Discovery and Development of CAS/China-Uzbekistan Medicine Technical Park (The China-Uzbekistan Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on New Drug), Lin Gang Laboratory, etc. 

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019, SIMM promptly established a joint research team and initiated emergency research on anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs. The joint group, led by SHEN Jingshan/ JIANG Hualiang of SIMM, XIAO Gengfu of WIV, and Haji Akber Aisa of XTIPC, rapidly discovered and evaluated an oral nucleoside drug candidate named VV116, targeting RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp).

VV116 non-covalently binds to the active center of RdRp of SARS-CoV-2 in the form of nucleoside triphosphate, directly inhibits the activity of RdRp and interferes with the synthesis of RNA, thereby blocking viral replication and exerting an antiviral effect against SARS-CoV-2. 

IND applications were submitted in both China and Uzbekistan after completing preclinical studies. In 2021, under the organization and coordination of XTIPC and the Central Asian Center of Drug Discovery and Development of CAS/China-Uzbekistan Medicine Technical Park (The China-Uzbekistan Belt and Road Joint Laboratory on New Drug), clinical trials of VV116 were conducted in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The results demonstrated that VV116 significantly reduces the risk for progression to critical COVID-19 or death in hospitalized patients with mild to severe COVID-19.

On December 30, 2021, the anti-SARS-CoV-2 oral drug VV116 was approved in Uzbekistan ("This certificate entitles using this drug in medical practice"). The product name is MINDVY？.

On May 10, 2022, the Ministry of Innovation Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Central Asian Center of Drug Discovery and Development of CAS/China-Uzbekistan Medicine Technical Park jointly held a press conference on “MINDVY？ (VV116), the original innovative drug for the treatment of COVID-19, and its clinical efficacy" at the Press Center of the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan.