BTG Share News (BTG)

Specialist healthcare company BTG and its partner SciClone Pharmaceuticals have received approval from the China Food and Drug Administration for the registration of its DC Bead treatment for a type of malignant liver tumour. Following the approval, the partners have started planning the treatment's commercial launch. Under their agreement, US-based SciClone will purchase batches of the product from BTG at a specified price for sale in China. Because of the country's high incidence of hepatitis, which is closely linked to liver cancer, China accounts for approximately one-half of the world's liver cancer cases. DC Bead is currently approved in 40 countries worldwide, including in Europe. The treatment is an embolic bead delivered through a minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure to block the blood flow to tumours. Chief executive officer at BTG, Louise Makin, said: "Approximately half of the world's liver cancer patients are in China and there is a great interest among Chinese physicians to offer new, differentiated treatment options. "[This] news marks an important step toward bringing our first interventional oncology product, DC Bead, to the Chinese market where we can help address this need." NR