Hong Kong approves 2 new cancer drugs under streamlined application process
- Approval of two medications for metastatic colorectal cancer comes month after government introduces streamlined mechanism to assent to new drugs
- Move hailed as ‘important milestone for Hong Kong in the progressive development into an internationally recognised regulatory authority for drugs and medical devices’
Hong Kong health authorities have approved two new cancer treatment drugs, a month after the government introduced a streamlined process to speed applications for the use of pharmaceutical products in the city.
“[The approvals] demonstrated the effective operation of the new 1+ mechanism and the realisation of the policy objective of ‘good drugs for Hong Kong’,” a bureau spokesman said.
“[It marks] an important milestone for Hong Kong in the progressive development into an internationally recognised regulatory authority for drugs and medical devices and an international health and medical innovation hub.”
The names and manufacturers of the drugs would be released later in an update to the website for the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, it added.
The bureau said the medications were used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer and were intended for patients for whom traditional chemotherapy treatments were “ineffective or inapplicable”.