Liver Cancer Medicine Made In Korea Approved

The first liver cancer medicine developed with domestic know-how has been approved as a new medicine.

Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) announced yesterday the official approval for the sale of the `Milican Inj`, a new liver cancer medicine developed jointly by Dong Wha Pharm. Co. (DWPC) and the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) with a budget of 4.3 billion won for last five years.

Consequently, the Milican Inj has been recorded as the third domestic new medicine following the Sunfla Inj, the first domestic new medicine produced in 1999 by SK Chemicals Co., and the `EGF`, a medicine for glycosuria and ulcer on foot, developed by Daewoong Pharm. Co..

The Milican Inj, made by mixing Holmium, a radioactive isotope, and the chitosan, is directly injected into a cancer cell. It is an epoch-making medicine that is more efficient than the existing chemotherapy and is less influential on normal cells. This treatment method has already completed a patent application in the U.S..

The DWPC announced that the medicine has showed 78 percent of cure rate from the two clinical tests conducted on 63 liver cancer patients at four hospitals including the Severance Hospital of Yonsei University.

The company soon plans to begin the third clinical test to examine the longer-than-five- years survival-rate after a Milican Inj treatment. A representative of the DWPC said, ``It is giving new hope for those who do not see any improvement with existing treatment methods.`` ``We have estimated that the scale of the domestic market is about 30 billion won and we can make more than 10 million dollars as the technology transfer fee``, he added.

Yun Sang-Ho ysh1005@donga.com