Breaking through the dilemma of multiple myeloma recurrence, BeiGene introduced new drugs to open supply in China

On January 5, 2022, BeiGene announced that a new generation of epoxyketone proteasome inhibitor Kailos (carfizomib for injection) was officially supplied in China, and was the first to prescribe to patients in many hospitals across the country. Kailos's first batch of drugs is expected to quickly cover 33 cities across the country, and will be successively landed in hospitals and pharmacies around the country, benefiting patients in need as soon as possible.

Kailos is the third commercial drug successfully introduced by BeiGene in China through a strategic partnership with Amgen. In July 2021, Kailos received conditional approval from the National Drug Administration (NMPA) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma in combination with dexamethasone, who had previously received at least 2 treatments, including proteasome inhibitors and immunomodulators.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common malignancy of the blood system, and is a malignant disease of abnormal proliferation of clonal plasma cells, accounting for about 13% of malignancies in the blood system. According to the 2018 WHO Global Cancer Survey Report, the incidence of MM in China is showing a trend of increasing year by year, and the incidence tends to be younger, bringing a heavy burden of disease to the patient's family and society.

With the continuous deepening of molecular biology research, the iteration of new drugs and treatment options has significantly improved the treatment level of multiple myeloma in China, and the survival status of patients has been significantly improved and made great progress. However, multiple myeloma is still clinically incurable, and patients have a large number of unmet clinical needs. Many MM patients are often in advanced stages when they are diagnosed, and most patients will continue to encounter relapse and drug resistance problems after treatment, which has become a thorny problem in clinical research and treatment.

With the opening of commercial listing in China, many hospitals such as Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine have prescribed treatment for patients, and the urgent clinical needs of patients have been solved for the first time.

It is reported that Kailos was first approved by the US FDA in 2012, and has since been approved for listing in dozens of countries or regions such as Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Japan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Switzerland.

[Reporter] Yan Huifang

【Author】 Yan Huifang

Healthy living circle