CANbridge Receives China FDA Approval for Oral Mucositis Therapy

CANbridge Life Sciences, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing Western drug candidates in China and North Asia, announced that it received an Import Medical Device Market Approval from the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) for CAN002 as a cancer adjuvant therapy, on April 2, 2018. CAN002, marketed as Caphosol in 47 countries, is an oral rinse for the treatment of oral mucositis, the inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the mouth that occurs frequently in cancer patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy, radiation and hematopoietic stem cell transplants. CAN002 is CANbridge’s first commercialized product.

In 2014, CANbridge entered into an exclusive partnership with EUSA Pharma for the right to commercialize Caphosol in China. EUSA Pharma is a specialty pharmaceutical company with a focus on oncology and oncology supportive care, with commercial operations in the US and Europe, and a wider distribution network in approximately 40 countries around the world.

Caphosol  (CAN002) is a supersaturated calcium phosphate oral rinse solution to treat oral mucositis (OM)—inflammation and ulcers in the mouth— caused by radiation, high-dose chemotherapy, and bone-marrow transplants to treat blood cancers. Approved in 48 countries, it has demonstrated robust clinical efficacy in preventing and treating OM, and has an excellent safety profile. The incidence of oral mucositis varies across cancer patient populations. However, according to the Oncology Nursing Society, it affects almost all patients undergoing radiation therapy for head and neck cancers; 80% of patients under going a stem cell transplant to treat blood cancer; and nearly half (40%) of patients receiving standard chemotherapy.