1st stem cell therapy, new HIV drug approved

China's top drug regulator has recently approved the nation's first stem cell therapy to treat a type of complication associated with bone marrow transplant, as well as a novel HIV drug that only requires two shots yearly.

The National Medical Products Administration said on Thursday that it granted conditional approval to an injection from the domestic drugmaker Platinum Life to treat patients aged 14 and above who suffer a rare disease called acute graft-versus-host disease and do not respond to regular steroid therapy.

Acute graft-versus-host disease, or aGVHD, typically hits patients who have just undergone a stem cell transplant due to severe blood condition. The disease is one of the primary reasons for death following transplantation.