A Chinese pharmaceutical maker has developed a new HIV drug that aims to block the virus from entering cells, the China Daily reported today. FusoGen Pharmaceuticals is currently testing the drug, a fusion inhibitor, in clinical trials. Zhou Genfa, FusoGen's chairperson, said the drug is modeled after the U.S.-developed Fuzeon -- the first drug in a new class of fusion inhibitors -- but employs a different molecular modeling. The drug, which has been registered as a new medicine with China's State Food and Drug Administration, will likely hit the market at the end of next year and will be priced "significantly" lower than Fuzeon, which can cost $20,000 per patient per year, said Zhou.

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