U.S. FDA Approves China-Produced Cancer Drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week granted permission for the use of a new cancer drug from China despite high-profile strains in ties between the two countries.

Akeso said on Thursday it has received approval for treatments with penpulimab-kcqx, which is used in the fight against nasopharyngeal cancer, or NPC. In a separate announcement, the drug co-developer Sino Biopharmaceutical also noted FDA approval of the marketing of penpulimab.

NPC, a type of head and neck cancer, starts in the nasopharynx, the upper part of the throat behind the nose and near the base of skull, according to a description by the American Cancer Society. Cancer starts when cells begin to grow out of control, it noted.

China, the world’s most populous nation, had a reported 3.2 million new cancer cases last year. A large number of cases has made the country one of the world’s most important markets for cancer drugs.

Rare in most parts of the world, NPC is more common in certain parts of South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. In some parts of China there have been as many as 21 cases per 100,000 people, the American Cancer Society has said.

Sino Biopharmaceutical, which listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2000, is controlled by the billionaire family of Tse Ping. Akeso CEO Michelle Xia, who also goes by Xia Yu, ranked No. 20 on a list of China’s top businesswomen published earlier this year by Forbes China, the licensed Chinese-language edition of Forbes.

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