China's quantity and quality of innovate drugs joins global lead

China has approved 82 innovative drugs and 138 innovative medical devices since 2022, a health official said on Friday.

Huang Guo, deputy director of the National Medical Products Administration, said that from January to May of this year, a total of 20 innovative medicines and 21 innovative medical equipment have gained market approval on the mainland.

"Among them are CAR-T therapy and monoclonal antibodies that use novel biotechnologies, novel traditional Chinese medicine products, artificial hearts that based on full magnetic levitation technology and CT scan examination software incorporating artificial intelligence," he said during a news conference held by the State Council Information Office.

"The quantity and quality of innovative drugs in China are both at a leading level globally," he said.

To accelerate market approval of innovative drugs, vaccines and those in urgent need, Huang said that the administration has devised four expedited, special channels, and assigned dedicated personnel or devised targeted policies to communicate with drug manufacturers.

Last year, the administration approved 45 rare diseases drugs, compared with three in 2022. In the first five months of this year, the administration granted market approval to 24 rare disease medicines.

Moreover, Huang said that China's drug approval standards have now aligned with the international standard, facilitating foreign drugmakers to apply for market approval more promptly.

The State Council released a guideline on June 6, laying out key tasks for deepening healthcare reform for this year.

The document said that the country will continue to accelerate examination and approval of innovative or urgent drugs and medical devices, rare disease therapeutics as well as medical equipment related to infectious disease control.