Biostar Pharma partners with Shaanxi University to co-develop liver cancer drug

China-based pharma and health supplements firm Biostar Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: BSPM) has signed a letter of intent with the Research Institute of Pharmaceuticals at Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine to develop a new liver cancer drug based on oleanolic acid injection.

In recent years, the new cancer cases and fatalities have been increasing sharply around the world, with China bearing the heaviest toll of this increase. According to the World Health Organization, there were 14 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million deaths around the world in 2012. China accounted for 3.07 million those new cancer cases, or 21.8% of the total, and 2.2 million deaths, or 26.9% of the worldwide figure. China's own estimates for the same periods are slightly higher than the WHO figures. New cases of cancer totalled 3.5 million with 2.5 million fatalities in 2012 according to records from China's National Cancer Registry.

The research of applying oleanic acid to treat liver cancer has been well reported in the USA in recent years. Biostar's research scientists have discovered that the "AO" factor existing in the oleanic acid is remarkably effective in killing the hepatitis B virus (HBV), and it may also be used to kill cancer cells.