Zai Lab launches Optune in Hong Kong for patients with GMB

China-headquartered Zai Lab (Nasdaq: ZLAB) has launched Optune (tumor treating fields or TTFields) in Hong Kong for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) with the treatment of its first patient.

Hong Kong is the fourth market after the USA, Europe and Japan to have access to this important new medical technology. Optune is the second product, along with the PARP inhibitor Zejula (niraparib) for the treatment of ovarian cancer, commercialized by Zai Lab in an Asian market.

Optune is a cancer therapy that uses electric fields tuned to specific frequencies to disrupt cell division, inhibiting tumor growth and causing affected cancer cells to die. Zai in-licensed the technology from Novocure in September 2018. Novocure markets Optune in the USA, Europe, Japan and certain other countries for the treatment of GBM and is in advanced clinical development for multiple solid tumor indications. While Optune is not yet approved for commercialization in China, the technology was included and recommended with Level 1 evidence as a treatment for GBM in China's Glioma Treatment Guideline published in 2016. In December 2018, the national treatment guideline was expanded to include both newly-diagnosed and recurrent GBM patients.