New anticancer drugs provide new hope for Chinese patients

BEIJING. KAZINFORM Six new medicines for the treatment of malignant tumors have been approved to enter the Chinese market in the past two years, offering more choices for patients, according to the Department of Major Science and Technology Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The six newdrugs are classified as type-1 medicines in China, which means they areinnovative with new structures and new mechanisms and have never previouslybeen marketed either at home or abroad, Xinhua reports.

The newlyapproved medicines are used for treating malignant tumors such as lung cancer,breast cancer, rectal cancer, melanoma and lymphoma.

The newanticancer drugs are an outcome of a key science and technology project todevelop major new medicines launched in 2008.

Before thestart of the project, only five type-1 medicines were approved in China over aperiod of 23 years, while a total of 44 type-1 medicines have been approvedsince the launch of the project.

ChenKaixian, deputy technical director of the project and an academician of theChinese Academy of Sciences, said the new medicines have filled the gap ofclinical treatment in China, and promoted the reduction of the price of similardrugs in the market, providing affordable drugs and new hope for Chinesepatients.