Long-acting, China-developed AIDS drug getting final review

China's domestically developed, long-acting experimental AIDS drug is undergoing a final review by the China Food and Drug Administration, the last stage in the approval process.

Different from traditional oral drugs that require daily use, Albuvirtide is an injection solution that can be administered weekly.

"In developed countries, oral AIDS drugs are very efficient, but it's a heavy burden for patients to take medicine every day for years," said Xie Dong, chairman of Frontier Biotechnologies, the Nanjing company that developed the drug.