China's first domestically developed long-acting injectable AIDS drug will be available to the public in August, and is expected to benefit tens of thousands of people infected with HIV.

我国首款自主研发的长效注射用抗艾滋病新药将于8月上市，有望造福于数十万名艾滋感染者。

The drug, Albuvirtide, was recently approved by the State Drug Administration, according to a notice on the administration's website.

根据国家药品监督管理局网站发布的通知，新药“艾博卫泰”近日获批上市。

Developed by Nanjing-based Frontier Biotechnologies, the drug is said to be able to block the fusion¹ of the virus and host cell membranes², interrupting the HIV life cycle in its earliest stage.

该药由前沿生物药业（南京）股份有限公司研发，据称可以通过抑制病毒包膜与人体细胞膜的融合，从而在感染初始环节阻断病毒复制周期。

It could potentially enhance patient compliance³, improve quality of life and reduce treatment costs for HIV-infected patients, according to the company. Its price has not been released yet.

该公司表示，这款新药有望提高患者的依从性，提高生活质量，降低艾滋病患者的治疗成本。其价格目前还没有公布。

Zhao Jianzhong, an official with the administration's drug approval center, said in a news report that the drug "offers a new option for HIV treatment" in China.

国家药品监督管理局药品审批中心的官员赵建中在一则新闻报道中表示，这种药物在中国“为艾滋病治疗提供了一种新的选择”。

"We encourage clinical research and the domestic development of drugs, and at the same time, we are accelerating the introduction of imported drugs to meet the urgent needs of our HIV/AIDS patients," said Wang Tao, the head of the administration's drug approval center.

药品审评中心负责人王涛称：“我们鼓励国内创新药做临床研发，同时我们对国际上发达国家已经上市的药物，也是尽快地把它引进到中国来，来解决我们的用药需求。”