New Hope For Advanced Colorectal Patients: Drug Fruquintinib Shows Improved Overall Survival

When found early, colorectal cancer has a great prognosis. If detected before it spreads, 90% of those diagnosed have a 5-year survival. That is why so much emphasis is put into screening. But for those who are in a later stage, the prognosis is grim and there has been very little progress in treatment development.

Once you get to the metastatic setting, many patients “ they just run out of options,” Jennifer Elliott, head of solid tumors at Takeda, explained to SurvivorNet at the ASCO Annual Meeting. So it was critically important for Takeda, to do this deal to in-license fruquintinib. We hope to give patients another option.”

Fruquintinib has been approved in China since 2018, and was originally developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company HUTCHMED. Takeda Oncology acquired the exclusive worldwide license for the drug outside of mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau in January 2023.

How Fruquintinib Works

Fruquintinib is an oral drug that inhibits angiogenesis, meaning it blocks the growth of blood vessels that increase tumor growth. It was investigated in two phase three trials for metastatic colorectal cancer.

“Both trials were robust large placebo controlled trials, and they both showed an overall survival advantage,” Elliott told SurvivorNet.

According to the study published in June, patients who received fruquintinib plus best supportive care (BSC) experienced 7.4 months of overall survival, compared to those who received a placebo plus BSC, who experienced 4.8 months of overall survival.

And patients who received fruquintinib experienced 3.7 months of progression-free survival, over those who received placebo, who experienced 1.8 months of progression-free survival.

“I think what’s unique about fruquintinib is its manageable safety profile, as well as the fact that it didn’t decrease the quality of life of patients on the trial — which is really important in this late stage of disease,” Elliott told SurvivorNet.

What Is Next

The drug was granted Priority Review by the FDA and assigned a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of November 30, 2023. A marketing authorization application for the drug in Europe has also been validated.

Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.

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