Shanghai firms developing ARVs

Three out of the four antiretroviral drugs which have been approved foruse in China were researched and developed by drugmakers in Shanghai, and three or four more such products from companies in the region will be submitted for approval this year, according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology.

While Shanghai manufacturers have in the past focused on producing cheap generic copies of expensive imported HIV/ AIDS drugs, they are now focusing on original R&D in this area with self-owned intellectual properties, the Shanghai Daily News reports the Commission as stating.

It adds that the Commission invested 11 million renminbi ($1.3 million) last year in 11 companies and research facilities in Shanghai for the development of new medicines.