(Yicai) Jan. 4 -- BeiGene and Junshi Biosciences, two innovative Chinese drugmakers, said that Chinese regulators have approved their anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody treatments for new uses.

BeiGene's Tislelizumab, an anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody, was approved to treat end-stage liver cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in China, the Beijing-based firm announced on Jan. 2. This became the drug's 12th approved indication, it added.

Toripalimab, developed by Junshi Bio, was approved to treat lung cancer before and after surgery, making it the first in China and second in the world to get approval for use at that stage of the disease, the Shanghai-based company said on the same day. This is the drug's seventh approved indication in China, it noted.

The approval for a new indication of Toripalimab means that the drug's target patients have been expanded to include those diagnosed with early-stage cancers, insiders from Junshi Bio told Yicai. The firm's income from sales of anti-PD-1 treatments still has much room for growth in the Chinese market, they added.

BeiGene made about CNY2.9 billion (USD403.2 million) from Tislelizumab sales in the nine months ended Sept. 31, accounting for 22 percent of its total revenue. Junshi Bio grossed about CNY668 million (USD93.5 million) from selling Toripalimab, making up around 68 percent of its overall income.

Chinese regulators have approved 11 new anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody drugs for use in the local market since June 2018, including nine domestically developed treatments. 

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev