Yicai Global) Aug. 30 -- A new drug  to treat leukemia, developed by a subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. [SHA:600196],  has obtained clinical study approval.

 The subsidiary, Fosun Suntech Pharmaceutical Co., recently received the approval notice from China Food and Drug Administration for its FN-1501 injection and its active pharmaceutical ingredient.

 The drug is an innovative small molecule chemical drug. No functional equivalents of FN-1501 to which Chinese enterprises own intellectual property rights are marketed in China. A new drug that is its functional equivalent has already been marketed in the US this year, but no market data for it is available to the company, it said. Research and development of the drug has claimed total investment of USD2.75 million (CNY18.1 million) as of July.

 Leukemia is a malignant hemopoietic stem cell clonal disease. Its current therapies mainly include chemical therapy, radiotherapy and stem cell transplants.