Has bimetinib/bemetinib been launched in China?

As of now (November 2025), Binimetinib has not been officially launched in mainland China, nor has it been included in the national medical insurance directory. This MEK inhibitor has already been approved for marketing in the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and other countries, and is used to treat unresectable or metastatic melanoma and some lung cancer patients with BRAF V600E or V600K mutations. Its unique mechanism of action lies in targeted blocking of the activity of MEK1/2 in the MAPK signaling pathway, thereby inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and metastasis. It is one of the important members of precision targeted therapy.

In the Chinese market, the registration process of bimetinib is still in the advancement stage and has not yet entered the official approval list of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). At present, if domestic patients want to obtain the drug, the main way is to purchase the drug cross-border or participate in ongoing clinical trials in some cancer centers. Some cross-border pharmaceutical service agencies provide individual self-pay import channels, but you need to carefully check the source and quality when purchasing to prevent the risk of counterfeit drugs or drugs without batch numbers.

At the domestic clinical level, the combination therapy of bimetinib and encorafenib (Encorafenib) has attracted widespread attention from the oncology community. The combination has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of BRAF-mutant unresectable or metastatic melanoma and has demonstrated significant survival benefit in clinical studies. Doctors believe that once bimetinib is approved for marketing, it will become an important treatment option for BRAF mutated tumors, especially in the field of combination therapy, which is expected to fill the domestic clinical gap.

In addition, the launch progress of bimetinib in China may be affected by the licensing cooperation model of international pharmaceutical companies. With the country accelerating the import registration process for innovative drugs and the "priority review channel" implemented by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE), the drug is expected to be officially approved in the next few years. If medical insurance negotiations are subsequently entered into, the price will be further reduced, thus greatly improving patient accessibility.

Reference materials:https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB11967