Based on an analysis of data from the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) and the Center for Drug Evaluation of the SFDA, it is estimated that approximately 25 “new drugs” entered clinical trials between 2003 and 2010. For purposes of the study, “new drugs” were defined as class 1.1 and 1.2 chemical drugs and class 1 biological drugs, or drugs the SFDA classifies as having never been approved anywhere else, and excludes traditional medicines. There are currently 187 new drugs in clinical trials in the country: 110 in Phase I, 16 in Phase II and 41 in Phase III. By therapeutic area, 32% and 17% of the drugs in clinical trials are for oncology and infectious disease, respectively. Seventy of the drugs have obtained compound patents (as opposed to secondary patents) in China, 23 have obtained these patents in the US and 16 have obtained these patents in Europe.

Source: Nature Reviews Drug Discovery