Xian-Ping Lu left his job as director of research at drug maker
Galderma R&D in Princeton, N.J., to co-found a biotech company to
develop new medicines in his native China. It took more than 14
years but the bet could be paying off. In February, Shenzhen Chipscreen
Biosciences’ first therapy, a medication for a rare type of Lymph-node Cancer, hit the market in China. The willingness of veterans like
Dr. Lu and others to leave multinational drug companies for Chinese
startups reflects a growing optimism in the industry here. The goal,
encouraged by the government, is to move the Chinese drug industry
beyond generic medicines and drugs based on ones developed in the West.
Chipscreen’s drug, called Chidamide, or Epidaza, was developed from
start to finish in China. The medicine is the first of its kind approved
for sale in China, and just the fourth in a new class globally. Dr. Lu
estimates the research cost of chidamide was about $70 million, or about
one-tenth what it would have cost to develop in the U.S.
Chidamide now is on the market in China for 26,500 yuan ($4,275) a
month, a price far lower than patients in the U.S. pay for some of the
newest cancer medicines but much more than the typical Chinese patient
pays for drugs. Dr. Lu said the price reflects a balance between
affordability for patients and return for shareholders.
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