(Yicai) Aug. 27 -- Shares in Chongqing Genrix Biopharmaceutical surged as much as 6 percent today after the Chinese drug developer said that its first self-developed medicine has been greenlit to enter the Chinese market.

Genrix’s share price [SHA:688443] closed up 0.7 percent at CNY26.60 (USD3.73). Earlier in the day it hit CNY28. However, the stock was dragged down by the general decline in the major indexes. The Star 50 Index, which is the benchmark of the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market where Genrix is listed, closed down 1.1 percent at 674.55.

Genrix’s Class-1 new drug Xeligekimab has been approved by the National Medical Products Administration for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults, the Chongqing-based company said today.

Class-1 new drugs refer to medicines with a completely new chemical structure or therapeutic application, according to China’s medical classification standards. Such drugs require extensive clinical trials before they are ready to go to market and thus their prices tend to be high.

Xeligekimab is a monoclonal antibody jab also known as Jinlixi, which inhibits the development of automimmune diseases by stopping the binding of certain proteosomes, Genrix said. The results of the final-stage clinical trials were published in the British Journal of Dermatology in February.

Xeligekimab is the first product of the Chinese innovative drug developer approved for registration, and it is expected to have a big impact on Genrix’s financial performance in immediate future.

Genrix is now applying to expand Xeligekimab’s treatment scope to that of spondyloarthritis.

Genrix currently has 15 drugs in development for the treatment of a range of conditions from autoimmune diseases to infectious diseases to tumors. The company racked up losses of CNY801 million (USD112.3 million) last year as none of its medicines were yet available for sale, according to its annual financial report.

Editor: Kim Taylor