China has licensed a new type of anti-flu injection for production that it believes may be effective in treating the H7N9 bird flu virus.

According to a statement issued by the China Food and Drug Administration on Saturday, preliminary tests show the anti-flu injection is effective in curing the H7N9 flu. The drug has been researched and developed independently by the China Academy of Military Medical Science for 8 years.

Up till now, the total number of H7N9 infections has reached 18. Eight cases, including four deaths, were reported in Shanghai, and three cases, including two deaths, were reported in east China’s Zhejiang Province.

Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province reported six cases and Anhui Province one case. Shanghai and Nanjing have both banned poultry sales, after traces of the H7N9 virus were detected in samples from various local wet markets in the two cities. Hangzhou also suspended poultry sales in one wet market, where the virus was detected.