Japan's Eisai announced that its Chinese subsidiary Eisai China Inc. (ECI) has launched the kinase inhibitor LENVIMA in China.

In China, LENVIMA was approved first as a single agent for the treatment of patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who have not received prior systemic therapy in September 2018. Through this launch, LENVIMA is the first new systemic therapy in approximately ten years available for the first-line treatment of unresectable HCC in China, where the incidence of HCC is the highest in the world.

In March 2018, Eisai and Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada), through an affiliate, entered into a strategic collaboration for the worldwide co-development and co-commercialization of LENVIMA, and collaboration between the companies is progressing around the world. Going forward, ECI and Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A.’s Chinese subsidiary MSD China will work to jointly provide information on LENVIMA in China as well.

Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths and is estimated to be responsible for approximately 750,000 deaths per year globally. Additionally, approximately 780,000 cases are newly diagnosed each year, about 80% of which occur in Asian regions. Specifically, in China, there are approximately 395,000 new cases and 380,000 deaths per year, accounting for approximately 50% of cases worldwide. HCC accounts for 85% to 90% of primary liver cancer cases. Unresectable HCC, for which treatment options are limited, is extremely difficult to treat, and the development of new treatments is necessary.

Today, LENVIMA is approved as a treatment for refractory thyroid cancer in over 50 countries including the United States, Japan and Europe, and in combination with everolimus as a second-line treatment for renal cell carcinoma in over 45 countries, including in the United States and Europe. In addition to China, LENVIMA is approved for use in the treatment of HCC in Japan, the United States, Europe, and other countries in Asia and around the world.

The Chinese pharmaceutical market is the second largest market in the world after the United States, and in 2017 was worth US$122.2 billion and growing at a rate of 4% on a local currency basis, maintaining growth. Eisai considers China as a key region for driving its global business following after Japan and the United States, and with the launch of LENVIMA in China, seeks to contribute further to increase the benefits provided to cancer patients and their families.