A gene therapy medicine made in Shenzhen obtained a drug license from China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) Oct. 16 and is expected to hit the market early next January.

Called Gendicine, the new drug is being produced by Shenzhen SiBiono GeneTech Co., Ltd. It is expected to be effective in the treatment of a range of diseases including cancer, some genetic diseases, cardiovascular diseases and AIDS.

It is claimed to be the first gene therapy medicine in the world. The news was released at a press conference held in Wuzhou Guesthouse on Wednesday.

Many scientific research organizations from home and abroad have congratulated Dr. Peng Zhaohui, chairman and CEO of SiBiono. W. French Anderson, reputed to be the father of gene therapy who leads the Gene Therapy Laboratories in the United States, also sent his congratulations to Dr. Peng.

Dr. Wang, president of the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association West Regional Branch, said in his congratulation letter: "This is indeed a great breakthrough in the biotech industry and I was very excited to hear this good news."

Dr. Peng has devoted himself to gene therapy research since 1990. On Christmas Eve, 1997, Peng returned from the United States and established SiBiono in Shenzhen later in 1998. As a lead product of SiBiono, Gendicine has undergone clinical trials for four years and the results have been successful. Most of the patients involved in the trials were nasopharyngeal cancer patients.

(Shenzhen Daily October 23, 2003)