An innovative Chinese anti-cancer drug breaks foreign monopoly

Ding Liemin, at that time the head of a Chinese team developing a cancer drug, remembers how he was driven out of the office of the president of a leading hospital two years ago.

"When I went into his office, he told me that he never make contact with domestic medicines. It was an unpleasant meeting. He drove me out after I had only said a few words," said Ding.

Ding did not blame him for feeling this way, as many medical experts at that time refused to prescribe domestic medicines. For a long time, most of the medicines they gave their patients were made overseas, as domestically-made medicines were not trusted.

This October, Ding attended an academic conference held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, where he discussed Conmana, or Icotinib hydrochloride, a new anti-cancer medicine produced by the Zhejiang-based Betta pharmaceutical company that he helped developed.

The new drug made China the third country to have developed targeted anti-cancer drugs, following in the footsteps of the US and the UK. It has caused many people to change their stereotype about Chinese medicines. "The president later realized that domestic medicines could also meet international standards and he strongly supports us now," said Ding.