JINAN , Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- A generic targeted drug to treat cancer manufactured by a Chinese pharmaceutical company hit market over the weekend.
The new gefitinib cancer-treating drug, whose Chinese commercial name is Yiruike, was produced by Qilu Pharmaceutical (Qilu). Its release ends an almost decade-long monopoly by Iressa, developed by British multinational biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and introduced to China in 2005.
Yiruike was approved for marketing by China's State Food and Drug Administration after Iressa's patent protection expired in April 2016, Qilu sources said.
A panel of Chinese pharmacists, headed by professor Yang Guoping with Central South University, have endorsed Yiruike.
The drug is a much-needed first line medicine used in targeted therapies against non-small-cell lung cancer, which accounts for about 80 percent of lung cancer cases in China.