BTG granted approval in China for liver cancer treatment

28th Aug 2014 07:54

Specialist healthcare company BTG and its partner SciClone Pharmaceuticals have received approval from the China Food and Drug Administration for the registration of its DC Bead treatment for a type of malignant liver tumour. Following the approval, the partners have started planning the treatment's commercial launch. Under their agreement, US-based SciClone will purchase batches of the product from BTG at a specified price for sale in China. Because of the country's high incidence of hepatitis, which is closely linked to liver cancer, China accounts for approximately one-half of the world's liver cancer cases. DC Bead is currently approved in 40 countries worldwide, including in Europe. The treatment is an embolic bead delivered through a minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure to block the blood flow to tumours. Chief executive officer at BTG, Louise Makin, said: "Approximately half of the world's liver cancer patients are in China and there is a great interest among Chinese physicians to offer new, differentiated treatment options. "[This] news marks an important step toward bringing our first interventional oncology product, DC Bead, to the Chinese market where we can help address this need." NR