Posted on: 28 November 2003, source: New Scientist
For the first time, a gene therapy-based treatment has been given the go-ahead by regulatory authorities. China's medicines authority approved the cancer therapy after it achieved promising results in a clinical trial. The treatment, called Gendicine, will be launched commercially in January by SiBiono GeneTech of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The results of the trial will be published in December in China's national medical journal (see also 'Gendicine'), says Zhaohui Peng, the company's founder and head, and he plans to translate the paper into English to submit to an international journal. Gendicine's approval was announced over a month ago but has gone largely unnoticed outside China.