New drug offers hope for lung cancer patients
Molecularly targeted drugs are an important part of precision medicine and more research efforts have been put into lung cancer in recent years.
Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group said it has received market approval for the first domestic innovative therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer with certain types of gene mutation.
"This marks a milestone for domestic innovative targeted therapy for lung cancer which also fits with China's health-care blueprint to encourage local innovation," said Lu Shun, principal investigator of its registrational study and a professor at Shanghai Chest Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
The almonertinib mesilate tablet from Jiangsu-based Hansoh Pharmac is a third-generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor for patients who are T790M mutation-positive, the first of its kind which is locally developed to be approved by the National Medical Products Administration.
In 2018, there were around 867,500 new lung cancer cases in China, of which about 85 percent were non-small cell lung cancer, with a five-year survival rate of just 19.3 percent.
Molecularly targeted drugs are an important part of precision medicine and more research efforts have been put into lung cancer in recent years by both multinational firms and local players.
They offer new options for metastatic NSCLC patients who acquired resistance after previous treatment, and could benefit about 100,000 to 200,000 patients.
