Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals announced that the State Food and Drug Administrations or SFDA of China approved their drug Nexavar for the treatment of patients with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma or liver cancer.

China confronts itself with the highest number of liver cancer. There are about 340,000 deaths from the disease annually, which makes it the third most common and second most deadly type of cancer in the country. People who catch their liver cancer in its early stages can opt for surgery and liver transplant, but most cases are only detected in the intermediate or terminal stages, when life expectancy falls to four to six month on average.

Nexavar won approval based on two international Phase III trials, which involved more than 800 patients. Its approval makes it the first liver cancer therapy available in China. The drug is already approved in more than 40 countries for liver cancer and in more than 70 countries for the treatment of patients with advanced kidney cancer.

“We are proud to be at the forefront of liver cancer treatment with Nexavar and are hopeful that patients in China can potentially have their lives extended by treatment with Nexavar,” said Gunnar Riemann, PhD. Member of the Executive Committee of Bayer HealthCare.

Sorafenib, the main ingredient in Nexavar, belongs to a new class of cancer treatments known as kinase inhibitors, which deactivate the enzyme that trigger tumor cell growth or cell division. The drug is designed to subdue tumor growth rather than destroying existing cancer cells.

Bayer is evaluating Nexavar as a treatment for breast cancer and lung cancer as well.