CUBAN OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE POTENTIAL CANCER DRUG

According to sources in Cuba's state-run media, the government is testing a new biotech drug that is reportedly effective in slowing cancer cell replication. The injectable product is reported to have shown good results in a trial of about 500 sufferers of cancers including acute paediatric lymphoblastic leukaemia. Cuban researchers also claim that the drug -- known as LeukoCIM -- improves resistance to bacterial infections following chemotherapy.

The drug is being used as a substitute for Amgen's Neupogen, which was previously obtained from outside the country. It is not clear whether the Cuban medicine is related, although government officials claim that LeukoCIM has been registered in eight Caribbean and Latin American countries.

Earlier this year, a UK company was reported as a participant in a technology sharing initiative with Cuban medical authorities and United Nations agency UNIDO. Meanwhile, a number of research-based Western drugmakers have complained that Cuban "generic" medicines are increasingly finding their way to new markets such as Venezuela.