和黃醫藥首批新藥明年提交審批
A UK-listed company backed by Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s richest men, says it is moving closer to producing the first modern drug developed in China for decades in a sign of the country’s potential to become a force in the pharmaceuticals industry.
由亞洲首富之一李嘉誠(Li Ka-shing)支持、倫敦上市的和黃中國醫藥科技（Hutchison China MediTech，簡稱：和黃醫藥）表示，正接近生產幾十年來在中國研發的首款現代藥物，這一跡象表明中國有望成爲製藥領域的一支生力軍。
Hutchison China MediTech predicts it will submit its first medicines for regulatory approval next year with several others following behind as the Hong Kong-based company attempts to move beyond traditional Chinese herbal remedies into modern cancer treatments.
和黃醫藥預測，將於明年將其首批藥品提交監管部門審批，之後將提交其他藥品審批。這家總部位於香港的公司正試圖超越中國傳統的中草藥療法，進入現代癌症治療領域。Christian Hogg, chief executive, said Chi-Med was aiming to become China’s first large-scale developer of homegrown innovative pharmaceuticals.
和黃醫藥首席執行官賀雋(Christian Hogg)表示，該公司的目標是成爲中國首家本土創新藥物的大規模開發者。
“For the past 20 years, China has been a passenger in drug development but that is beginning to change,” Mr Hogg told the Financial Times.
賀雋告訴英國《金融時報》：“過去20年，中國一直是藥物開發領域的乘客，但這點正開始發生變化。”Chi-Med is a subsidiary of Mr Li’s Hutchison Whampoa group and its holding company is listed on London’s junior Aim stock exchange. It has 16 clinical studies under way involving seven experimental medicines for a range of cancers and inflammatory diseases.
和黃醫藥隸屬於李嘉誠旗下的和記黃埔(Hutchison Whampoa)集團，其控股公司在倫敦二板市場——另類投資市場(AIM)上市。該公司目前從事16項臨牀研究，涉及7種實驗藥物，針對各種癌症和炎症。Mr Hogg said the two most promising of these were on track to be filed for regulatory approval in 2016. Fruquintinib, developed in partnership with Eli Lilly of the US, is targeted at colorectal and lung cancer, while savolitinib, co-developed with AstraZeneca of the UK, is aimed at kidney and gastric cancer.
賀雋表示，其中兩款最具潛力的藥物將在2016年提交監管審批。與美國禮來(Eli Lilly)合作研發的呋喹替尼 (Fruquintinib)用於結腸直腸癌和肺癌的治療，與英國阿斯利康(AstraZeneca)共同研發的savolitinib旨在治療腎癌和胃癌。Analysts cautioned that there was no guarantee of success either in clinical trials or in winning share of the fiercely competitive oncology market if approved. But Savvas Neophytou at Panmure Gordon said the company was making faster-than-expected progress. A big increase in research and development investment revealed last week “could shave off up to a year in development time” for fruquintinib, he added.
分析師們告誡稱，如果獲得審批，並不能保證該公司會獲得臨牀試驗成功，或者在競爭激烈的治癌藥物市場成功贏得市場份額。但潘密爾高登(Panmure Gordon)的薩瓦斯•尼奧斐託(Savvas Neophytou)表示，該公司取得的進展快於預期。他補充稱，上週公佈的研發投資大規模增加，有望將呋喹替尼的“研發時間縮短至多一年”。
