First stem cell therapy, new HIV drug approved in China

China's top drug regulator has recently approved the nation's first stem cell therapy to treat a type of complication associated with bone marrow transplant, as well as a novel HIV drug that only requires two shots yearly.

The National Medical Products Administration said last week that it granted conditional approval to an injection from the domestic drugmaker Platinum Life to treat patients aged 14 and above who suffer a rare disease called acute graft-versus-host disease and do not respond to regular steroid therapy.

The homegrown therapy is the first mesenchymal stromal cell treatment that has gained the green light on the Chinese mainland. The approval was issued through an accelerated market registration track designed for novel or urgently needed medicines.