China’s big push for homegrown innovative medicines

The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), China's top drug regulator, says it will redouble efforts to facilitate research and market registration of homegrown innovative drugs, while speeding up the introduction of novel foreign drugs to the domestic market to meet public demand.

From January to August, the administration approved 31 innovative drugs, a rise of nearly 20% from the same period last year, Li Li, the director of the administration, told a recent news conference in Beijing.

It also granted market clearance to 46 innovative medical devices during the same period, a year-on-year increase of more than 12%.