China scales up support for clinical trials, accelerating drug development

BEIJING, May 20 (Xinhua) -- China is scaling up support for clinical trials of drugs, contributing to the acceleration of its new drug development, according to an official at a related event on Monday, which was the 20th Clinical Trials Day.

In recent years, the National Health Commission (NHC) has been supporting demonstration clinical trial research platforms for various diseases nationwide, and has worked with other government departments to continuously improve the regulatory system for clinical research, according to NHC official Gu Jinhui.

A total of 3,358 clinical trials of drugs were registered in China in 2021, 3,410 in 2022, and 4,300 in 2023, indicating continuous growth, according to an industry report.

The Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences has conducted over 4,700 clinical studies since it initiated the country's first clinical study of a new cancer drug in 1960.

According to statistics, 184 cancer drugs have been successful in reaching the market through the hospital's clinical research, accounting for more than 70 percent of all domestically produced cancer drugs.

The hospital was the first in the country to establish an outpatient clinic specifically for clinical trials of new drugs, said Zhang Yong, an official of the National Cancer Center.

He noted that over 500 clinical trials are currently open to patients, covering various cancer types, including lung cancer, breast cancer, esophageal cancer and liver cancer.

Clinical trials are systematic experiments conducted on human subjects to determine the safety and efficacy of drugs and therapies, and they are crucial to the advancement of health care services.