The State Administration for Food and Drug has approved simultaneous port inspection and market sales of Herceptin, the Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Administration told thepaper.cn Monday.The move saves two to three months from the time required for the drug to reach the hands of customers amid a shortage in the domestic market.Herceptin is a targeted therapy for HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer and HER2 positive gastric cancer. Patients who lack the drug might not recover or could risk shortening their lives.In July 2017, Herceptin was included in the National Reimbursement Drug List. The market price of the drug, which was marked 19,800 yuan ($3,092) for an injection before the inclusion, dropped 60 percent to 7,600 yuan.As the national reimbursement scheme can cover 70 to 80 percent of the drug's cost in most regions, meaning a customer can buy Herceptin at 1,500 yuan for an injection, demand for the drug skyrocketed.Swiss-based drug maker Roche Holding AG, the producer and sole supplier of Herceptin in China's market, said on May 31 that the company has taken several measures to deal with the shortage, including implementing the China market priority strategy, raising the production capacity to full steam, and optimizing logistics channels.The company also filed an application with the State Administration for Food and Drug, asking to relocate the production of Herceptin from its current base to a new one with a higher production capacity. The application was approved May 30.Despite the measures, the company said as it takes longer for production and inspection of the drug, and also time for import and inspection by Chinese authorities before entering the market, it still needs time to fully meet the demand. custom rubber band braceletsdesign your own wristbandballer bandsmotivational bracelets for athletesbracelet maker onlineslap wristbands
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte visited Chinese warships docked in his hometown on Monday, Xinhua News Agency reported. Duterte boarded the guided missile destroyer Changchun, which arrived with two other vessels in Davao city on Mindanao island on Sunday for a three-day goodwill visit. Duterte said he is open to the idea of conducting joint military exercises with China. "I agree (to the idea). They can have joint exercises here in Mindanao, maybe in the Sulu Sea," Duterte told reporters after visiting the warship at the Davao city wharf. Duterte said he was impressed by the warship. "It's all carpeted. It's so beautiful. Inside, it's like a luxury hotel," he said. "It's clean." He said the visit to the warship was part of the confidence building and goodwill between Manila and Beijing. "Goodwill games" of basketball and tugs-of-war were being staged between the Chinese sailors and their Filipino counterparts in Davao city, the Philippine Navy said in a statement. This is the first visit of People's Liberation Army Navy ships since 2010, signaling greater mutual trust and reduced tensions in the South China Sea, officials and experts said. The three vessels - the Changchun, the guided missile frigate Jingzhou and the supply ship Chaohu - fall under the command of Rear Admiral Shen Hao, the PLA Navy deputy commander of the East Sea Fleet, who led the flotilla. The visit will strengthen the relationship between the Chinese and Philippine navies and contribute to the development of traditional friendship and ties between the two countries, said Admiral Miao Hua, the political commissar of the PLA Navy, who spoke on Sunday at the welcome ceremony. He led another Chinese delegation to the Philippines for a visit. Sara Duterte, mayor of Davao city and the president's daughter, said on Sunday she hoped the visit would promote exchanges on maritime issues and cooperation between the two countries. The trio of Chinese ships set sail from Shanghai on April 24 and will visit about 20 countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania on a 180-day voyage. This is the longest goodwill visit with the greatest number of countries visited the PLA Navy has ever made, Xinhua reported. The ships' visit to the Philippines came a day after the meeting of the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila. Zhang Xuegang, a Southeast Asian studies expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the voyage would facilitate stronger trust between the two countries and further reduce tension in the South China Sea. "The goodwill visit shows that China is willing to work with any ASEAN country to promote regional peace and security," Zhang said. [email protected]
