A Chinese-developed immunotherapy for one of the most aggressive forms of lung cancer is set to become available on England's National Health Service, marking a milestone for both patients and China's rapidly growing pharmaceutical industry.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended Serplulimab (Hetronifly), developed by Shanghai-based biotechnology company Henlius, in combination with chemotherapy for eligible patients with extensive stage small cell lung cancer  (SCLC).

SCLC is an aggressive form of lung cancer with limited treatment options and a poor prognosis.

Clinical trial data showed that patients receiving Serplulimab alongside chemotherapy lived for a median of 15.8 months, compared with 11.1 months for those receiving placebo alongside chemotherapy.

The NICE approval comes as China's pharmaceutical industry continues its shift from manufacturing medicines to developing innovative new therapies.

According to China's National Medical Products Administration, Chinese companies now account for around 30% of global novel drug development, second only to the United States, while a record 76 home-grown innovative medicines were approved in China in 2025.

"It is something to be celebrated because it is the very first PD1 immunotherapy approved in the UK and with the NICE recommendation," Darius Panaligan, chief commercial officer for international markets at Henlius, told CGTN.

Unlike chemotherapy, which attacks both healthy and cancerous cells, immunotherapy works by helping the body's own immune system recognise and attack cancer.

Henlius is also using artificial intelligence to help accelerate the development of future medicines.

"Artificial intelligence is a fantastic tool for us...for science and for productivity," Panaligan said.

"For science, it helps our scientists and our clinicians with protein structure and modelling… it definitely is a tool that helps our scientists accelerate the drug development process and review."

For productivity, AI is used by Henlius to assess, evaluate and validate some of the data, which, Panaligan says, helps make sure drugs can be made available as quickly as possible worldwide.

The treatment will be supplied in Britain through Accord Healthcare, which has partnered with Henlius to bring the medicine to the UK market.

Panaligan is convinced international collaboration will continue to play an important role in developing new medicines.

"Nowadays, when we are talking about global markets, we cannot develop a drug just from one country; we need to be able to partner and work with many countries, including in the UK."