Nanjing Simcere Pharmaceutical Corporation and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, an American Pharmaceutical giant, signed a cooperation agreement in Nanjing on the afternoon of July 2, in which the two sides agreed to cooperate in the development of a new kind of Abatacept, a medicine used for curing rheumatoid arthritis.
According to the introduction, the European and American dosage form of Abatacept has already been put into the market which proves safe with sound curative effect. The two corporations’ joining hands aim for developing the dosage form suitable for Chinese patients. The new medicine is expected to appear in the market within 3 years.
At present, there are more than 5 million rheumatoid arthritis patients in China, among which only 200,000 can receive standard treatment.