(Yicai Global) May 24 -- Northern China's medical firm Tianyao Pharmaceuticals Co. has received an approval to produce and sell its hormone drug in the US market after a six-year application period.

Tianyao got the final nod from the US Food and Drug Administration to sell its generic methylprednisolone tablets in the world's largest economy, said the Tianjin-based drug maker. The company has so far spent CNY47 million (USD7 million) on the research and development of the drug.

In China, the sales of methylprednisolone tablets were CNY260 million in 2015 and CNY270 million in 2016, the announcement said. According to industry data, sales of the drug reached USD126 million in the US last year, which is about three-fold the Chinese market cap. Tianyao sold around CNY65 million worth of the drug last year, while accounting for about 24 percent of the domestic market cap.

Methylprednisolone tablets are a hormone drug mainly used to treat rheumatic, skin, eye and respiratory diseases, as well as allergies. The drug became available in the US in 1954, and its main American manufacturers include Jubilant Cadista Pharmaceuticals Inc., Vintage Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Duramed Pharms Barr. 

Editor: Emmi Laine