Lilly’s bowel disease drug gets approval in China 

SHANGHAI, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly has won Chinese regulators’ approval for its drug to treat chronic inflammatory bowel disease, expanding the treatment’s use to the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market, it said on Wednesday.

The drug, mirikizumab, is authorised as a treatment for moderately-to-severely active Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, the U.S. drugmaker said in a statement on its official WeChat account. 

The decision marks its China branch’s first approval for an innovative medicine in the digestive immunity field, according to the statement. The drug is already approved for treatment in several other countries, including the U.S.

Lilly, which also sells drugs in China for other diseases, including Alzheimer’s, diabetes and obesity, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on a launch date or costs.

The ulcerative colitis therapy market in China will see “considerable growth” over the next decade, fueled by the launch and adoption of targeted medicines like Lilly’s drug, according to Clarivate. 

(Reporting by Andrew Silver in Shanghai; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)