News from CCTV: On June 15, 2018, the CNDA officially approved the launch of PD-1 antibody Nivolumab injection in China's market. It aims at patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer on whom standard chemotherapy had failed. Experts pointed out that the new drug will bring new treatments and hope for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Lung cancer has the highest incidence rate 85% cancer patients suffer from non-small cell lung cancer

Lung cancer is the world's leading cause of cancer death, with more than 1.7 million deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. In China, lung cancer has the highest incidence rate, among which non-small cell lung cancer is the most common type. Patients with non-small cell lung cancer account for about 85% of all lung cancer patients.

Yang Zhimin, head of First Clinical Department of Chemical Medicines of the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDA), the CNDA

Yang Zhimin, head of First Clinical Department of Chemical Medicines of the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDA), the CNDA, said that it's completely different from traditional chemotherapy and small molecule targeted therapy in terms of how it works. The study in China also demonstrated a significant 32 percent reduction in the risk of using it on the patients with advanced non-small cell (lung cancer).

Patients with advanced malignant melanoma are able to survive for a long time

In July 2014, the world's first PD-1 inhibitor was launched in Japan to treat advanced malignant melanoma. Clinical studies have found that some patients who get remission after treatment are able to survive for a long time, so PD-1 inhibitor have attracted attention worldwide. Since then, the United States, the European Union, Australia, and Hong Kong (China) have launched PD-1 inhibitor.

It broke with tradition and brought breakthroughs across multiple cancer types

In 2016, the Science called this cancer immunotherapy as the biggest scientific breakthrough of the year. Because not only did it completely break the traditional way of treating cancer, it also led to breakthroughs across multiple cancers, which help some patients with advanced cancer achieve long-term survival.

At present, similar domestic drugs are also being developed, and some have entered the review stage, according to the CNDA.

Yang Zhimin said based the current situation we hope that in the future, the time of priority review can be shortened to four to six months to approve the launch of the drug.