The Korea Food and Drug Administration will shorten by at least six months clinical testing of candidate drugs to fight cancer.

The food and drug safety watchdog said Thursday that if candidate drugs prove effective in animal testing, early-stage clinical tests on human subjects will be allowed after as little as one month of tests on animal subjects.

The KFDA expects the latest move to provide more opportunities to use new drugs on patients who do not respond to existing cancer treatments.

The move is also expected to expedite the development and commercialization of anti-cancer drugs.