Rockville Biopharma To Sell Cancer Therapy Injection In China

ROCKVILLE, MD — CASI Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Rockville-based biopharmaceutical company, now has permission to launch an injection treatment for certain cancer patients. Just don't expect to see it in the United States anytime soon.

The medicine, called EVOMELA, is designed for patients with multiple myeloma, a cancer that forms in plasma cells. So far, it's only received market approval by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), the agency responsible for regulating drugs and medical devices in China.

"This is a proud milestone for CASI," said Wei-Wu He, CASI's chairman and CEO. "We have an established commercial and supply chain infrastructure with hospitals and physicians ready to accommodate the anticipated demand for this vital treatment."

As the only commercially approved melphalan product in China, EVOMELA is used as a "high-dose conditioning treatment prior to hematopoietic progenitor (stem) cell transplant in patients with multiple myeloma, and as a palliative treatment of patients with multiple myeloma for whom oral therapy is not appropriate," according to CASI.

This is CASI's first commercial product since the company was founded in 1991. The company has an office in Rockville, and a wholly owned subsidiary in China.

"The launch of EVOMELA® officially marks the transition of CASI to a full-scale commercial operation," He said. "We look forward to advancing our product line and commercializing additional products from our hematology oncology portfolio, as well as other products where high unmet medical needs exist."