BEIJING, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese researchers have developed a biosimilar to treat ankylosing spondylitis.

Ankylosing spondylitis is a type of chronic rheumatic immune disease encroaching spinal joints and peripheral joints, resulting in spine malformation in extreme cases. The disease affects about 0.3 percent of the Chinese population.

The research team, linking 20 domestic medical centers including Tsinghua University School of Medicine, conducted analysis on patients between 18 and 65 years old.

Patients were randomly assigned in a one to one ratio to receive either 40 mg of IBI303 or adalimumab as a subcutaneous injection every 2 weeks until week 22, according to a paper recently published in the journal Lancet Rheumatology.

The results showed therapeutic equivalence of IBI303 and adalimumab in ankylosing spondylitis treatment, said the paper. The efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of the drugs are highly similar.

IBI303 could be a treatment option for patients with ankylosing spondylitis in China.

The country issued a trial technical guideline in 2015 to boost biosimilar drugs development and evaluation.