AstraZeneca plc (ADR) (NYSE: AZN) disclosed Friday via its official WeChat account that a key lung cancer drug has received approval from Chinese regulators, opening up a potentially very lucrative new market in a country where millions suffer from the disease.

Written by StockNews.com

The new prescription medicine, named Tagrisso, is an oral treatment option for patients with...metastatic EGFR T790M mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have progressed on or after EGFR TKI therapy. Tagrisso has been in use in the U.S. since 2015.

China’s regulators have pledged quicker approvals of new drugs in the country, and may even relax some clinical trial requirements to spur an uptick in medical research there.

The news couldn’t come soon enough for many cancer sufferers. As Bloomberg reports, the deadly disease has skyrocketed in China as of late:

China logged more than 700,000 new cases of lung cancer in 2015, the product of a surge in air pollution, high smoking rates and unhealthy lifestyles as incomes have risen. AstraZeneca got more than 12 percent of its revenue from China last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

...Year-to-date, AZN has gained 18.32%, versus a 4.62% rise in the benchmark S&P 500 index during the same period.

AZN currently has a StockNews.com POWR Rating of A (Strong Buy), and is ranked #8 of 134 stocks in the Medical – Pharmaceuticals category.