Biopharmaceutical companies at Hong Kong Science Park bring hope to cancer patients
- Athenex develops oral alternative to intravenous chemotherapy and Bio-Cancer Treatment International’s drug slows leukaemia and melanoma tumour growth
- Both companies strive to develop cancer treatments that produce fewer, less severe toxic side effects than conventional treatment of chemotherapy
Cancer is the second leading cause of death around the world, and in 2018 was responsible for an estimated 9.6 million fatalities – the equivalent of one in six deaths.
Figures published in October 2019 by the Hong Kong Cancer
Registry – part of Hong Kong Hospital Authority – highlighted more than 33,000 cases of cancer diagnosed in the city annually, while new cancer cases had jumped by 5.1 per cent in 12 months.
The rising number of new patients each year means there is an urgent need for effective treatments to fight the disease.
Chemotherapy is traditionally used to shrink tumours or kill any cancer cells that remain in the body after surgery, with powerful chemotherapy drugs injected directly into a patient’s bloodstream.
However, it is also widely known that having the drugs administered in this way is highly toxic for the body, with hair loss, frequent vomiting and mouth sores among their side effects.
