About the Phase III FRUTIGA Trial
FRUTIGA (NCT03223376) was a 1:1 randomized, double-blind, Phase III study conducted across 35 sites in China. It evaluated fruquintinib in combination with paclitaxel chemotherapy, compared with paclitaxel monotherapy, for second-line treatment in 703 patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. The study was declared positive due to a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (“PFS”), one of two dual primary endpoints. Median PFS for patients who received fruquintinib plus paclitaxel was 5.6 months, compared to 2.7 months for those who received paclitaxel monotherapy (stratified hazard ratio [“HR”] = 0.569; p < 0.0001). An improvement was also observed in the dual primary endpoint of median overall survival (OS), (9.6 months vs. 8.4 months) but this was not statistically significant. Fruquintinib plus paclitaxel demonstrated statistically significant improvements in multiple other endpoints including objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR) and duration of response (DoR). It was well tolerated, with a safety profile consistent with expectations and previously reported studies.1
Results were published in Nature Medicine and presented at the ASCO 2024 Annual Meeting, concluding that fruquintinib plus paclitaxel could be a promising second-line treatment option for patients with advanced gastric or gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma, who have failed fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing chemotherapy.
About Gastric Cancer
Gastric cancer is a cancer that starts in the stomach. It is the fifth most common cancer worldwide in 2022. It was estimated to have caused approximately 660,000 deaths worldwide.2 In China, it was estimated that over 359,000 people were diagnosed with gastric cancer, and approximately 260,000 people died from gastric cancer.3
About Fruquintinib
Fruquintinib is a selective oral inhibitor of VEGFR-1, -2 and -3. VEGFR inhibitors play a pivotal role in inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. Fruquintinib was designed to have enhanced selectivity that limits off-target kinase activity, allowing for high drug exposure, sustained target inhibition, and flexibility for the potential use as part of combination therapy. Fruquintinib has demonstrated a manageable safety profile and is being investigated in combinations with other anti-cancer therapies.
About Fruquintinib Approval for metastatic CRC in China
Fruquintinib is approved for marketing in China, where it is co-marketed by HUTCHMED and Lilly under the brand name ELUNATE®. It was included in the China National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL) in January 2020. The approval was based on data from the FRESCO study, a Phase III pivotal registration trial of fruquintinib in 416 patients with metastatic CRC in China, which were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, JAMA. Since its launch, fruquintinib has benefited over 100,000 patients in China.
About Takeda and Fruquintinib Approval for metastatic CRC outside China
Takeda has the exclusive worldwide license to further develop, commercialize, and manufacture fruquintinib outside of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. For the treatment of metastatic CRC, fruquintinib received approval in the US in November 2023 and in Europe in June 2024, where it is marketed by Takeda under the brand name FRUZAQLA®. The approvals were based on data from two large, randomized, controlled Phase III trials: the multi-regional FRESCO-2 trial, data from which were published in The Lancet, and the FRESCO trial conducted in China. The trials investigated fruquintinib plus best supportive care versus placebo plus best supportive care in patients with previously treated metastatic CRC. Both FRESCO and FRESCO-2 met their primary and key secondary efficacy endpoints and showed consistent benefit among a total of 734 patients treated with fruquintinib. Safety profiles were consistent across trials. Other regulatory applications for this indication are progressing as expected in Japan and in many other jurisdictions.
About HUTCHMED
HUTCHMED (Nasdaq/AIM:HCM; HKEX:13) is an innovative, commercial-stage, biopharmaceutical company. It is committed to the discovery and global development and commercialization of targeted therapies and immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and immunological diseases. It has approximately 5,000 personnel across all its companies, at the center of which is a team of about 1,800 in oncology/immunology. Since inception it has focused on bringing cancer drug candidates from in-house discovery to patients around the world, with its first three medicines marketed in China, the first of which is also marketed in the US and Europe. For more information, please visit: www.hutch-med.com or follow us on LinkedIn.