(Yicai Global) Aug. 7 -- Pfizer has got the nod to sell palbociclib in China, making it the first treatment for advanced breast cancer to enter the market in over a decade.

The State Drug Administration approved the drug, the world's first inhibitor of the cyclin-dependent kinases CDK4 and CDK6, on July 31, the New York-based pharma giant said on its Chinese website yesterday. The medicine will trade under the name Ibrance.

Palbociclib provides a new treatment for advanced breast cancer patients in China, and can remarkably extend patient's progression-free survival will improving their quality of life, said Wu Kun, general manager of Pfizer's PIH China.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant cancer affecting women worldwide. In 2015, there were 272,000 new cases and about 70,000 deaths in China. One in 10 incidents is diagnosed as advanced-stage and up to 40 percent of early-stage cancers become advanced, despite surgeries and standardized treatments. Though new treatments have arisen for early-stage tumors, there have been no significant breakthroughs for advanced breast cancers in the past decade.

Ibrance has been approved to treat a range of cancers in the United States and Europe, and China will be its 87th national market. It can be used to medicate estrogen receptor positive, hormone receptor positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor two negative cancers.

There is no information available regarding its price in China yet, as it usually takes two to three months for a new drug to become available once getting the regulator's approval.

Editor: James Boynton