HLB to Begin Significant Sales of Liver Cancer Drug from Q3... Expected to Become a 'Global Standard Treatment'

Priority Recommendation of Chinese Version NCCN Guideline
Application for US NCCN Guideline Completed
"Will Become Global Standard Treatment After Approval"

HLB announced on the 17th that the combination therapy of the liver cancer drug ‘Rivoceranib + Camrelizumab’ has been listed as a ‘preferred regimen’ in the Chinese liver cancer treatment guidelines, establishing itself as the standard treatment for first-line liver cancer therapy.

The National Health Commission (NHC) of China held a press conference on the 15th to introduce the ‘Primary Liver Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines (2024 edition),’ which can be considered the Chinese version of the NCCN (National Comprehensive Cancer Network) guidelines in the U.S., and published the guidelines on the NHC website. These guidelines serve as a resource to introduce optimal treatment methods to medical professionals and researchers to improve the efficacy and safety of liver cancer treatment.

The NHC emphasized that the Rivoceranib combination therapy is the only ‘combination of a novel angiogenesis TKI inhibitor and an immune checkpoint inhibitor’ that has demonstrated superior efficacy compared to control groups in first-line liver cancer treatment. As the basis for designating it as a preferred regimen, they cited the major global phase 3 results published in the prestigious medical journal, The Lancet. The Rivoceranib combination therapy demonstrated the longest overall survival (mOS) of 22.1 months in liver cancer treatment clinical trials to date.

Separately, HLB’s U.S. subsidiary, Elevar Therapeutics, completed the application for listing in the U.S. NCCN guidelines earlier this month.

The U.S. NCCN guidelines are regarded as the most authoritative clinical guidelines among specialists and researchers worldwide, and specialists typically prioritize prescribing drugs recommended by the NCCN for cancer treatment. This makes inclusion in these guidelines highly significant.

With the new drug approval review entering its final stage without any particular issues, it is expected that the drug will be listed in the NCCN guidelines and designated as a preferred regimen.

HLB Group CTO Yonghae Han stated, “With the U.S. NCCN application completed and the designation as a preferred regimen in China, the superior therapeutic effect of the Rivoceranib combination therapy compared to competing drugs has been officially recognized.” He added, “We expect the big event of new drug approval and NCCN listing to occur soon in the U.S., and sales will begin in earnest from the third quarter.”