Pralsetinib. [Photo/Haikou Evening Post]

Pralsetinib, a targeted medicine for fusions and mutations of the RET gene in non-small-cell lung cancer, saw its first application in the Chinese mainland at the Hainan Cancer Hospital on June 21. 

The medicine, a kinase inhibitor, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States to enter the market in September 2020, and was introduced to Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone for licensed operation simultaneously.

The licensed operation of Pralsetinib has been conducted by a team led by Professor Wei Zhixia, an expert at the Hainan Cancer Hospital.

Wei said that compared with traditional chemotherapy medicines, Pralsetinib has shown several advantages such as having more mild side effects and high therapeutic remission rate as well as being easy to take orally. 

Wei added that domestic clinical trials have indicated that Pralsetinib has strong inhibiting effects, can significantly increase the life expectancy among patients, and improve quality of life.