(Yicai) March 25 -- Chinese drugmaker Yifan Pharmaceutical has received the European Union’s approval to sell its innovative drug to reduce the risk of infections due to low immunity in cancer patients during the treatment with anti-cancer drugs.

Yifan’s unit Evive Biotechnology Ireland received a notification from the European Commission on March 22 about the approval of Ryzneuta in the EU, the Hangzhou-based parent company announced yesterday.

Ryzneuta is a new leukocyte growth factor drug that enhances the ability of patients’ immune system to fight infections. Compared with similar products on the market, such as Neulasta, Neupeg, and Ziextenzo, Ryzneuta has better efficacy, is safer, can be administered earlier, and helps save medication costs, Yifan noted.

Yifan granted exclusive distribution rights for Ryzneuta to Kalteq for Greece and Cyprus and to Apogepha Arzneimittel for Germany, Switzerland, and Austria to leverage local sales channels and customers of the two partners and be quickly available to more patients, the Chinese firm added.

Global sales of recombinant human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor medicines, category to which Ryzneuta belong, totaled USD4.4 billion in the first three quarters of last year, of which USD1.1 billion were from Europe, the company said, citing data from US life science industry data provider Iqvia.

Ryzneuta was approved for marketing in China last May and in the United States last November. Acrotech Biopharma is the exclusive distributor of the drug in the US.

Yifan’s shares [SHE: 002019] were trading up 1.4 percent at CNY11.57 (USD1.61) as of lunch break in Shenzhen today. The stock closed up more than 7 percent on the day the US Food and Drug Administration approved Ryzneuta for marketing.

Editor: Futura Costaglione