After receiving FDA approval last week, toripalimab will be used in combination with the chemotherapy drugs cisplatin and gemcitabine in the initial treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer.
Toripalimab is specifically approved for use in patients whose tumors can be removed without surgery and who have not responded to previous chemotherapy.
In clinical trials, people who received toripalimab along with other chemotherapy drugs had a 48% lower risk of death or severe disease than those who received chemotherapy alone.
“We hope this promising therapy will bridge the gap in nasopharyngeal cancer treatment for overseas patients who have difficulty finding effective solutions” – Mr. Xu Ruihua, Trial Team Leader Toripalimab Clinical Trial, shared.
The antibody drug Toripalimab, manufactured by Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co (China), was approved for use in the US on October 27. Photo: China Daily
According to Coherus Biosciences Company (USA), nasopharyngeal cancer is a rare cancer in the US and is more common in South China, Southeast Asia, and North Africa. However, toripalimab may soon be approved to treat other types of cancer.
US pharmaceutical companies have long dominated the domestic and world markets, but in September this year, the White House announced that the US was short of 15 cancer treatment drugs “due to production-related problems” and supply.
To address “critical” drug shortages, the FDA has sought supplies from foreign manufacturers. Toripalimab is the first and currently the only drug licensed by the FDA for the treatment of nasopharyngeal cancer.
theo South China Morning Post (SCMP), it is also the first Chinese antibody drug to enter the US market.
