Chi-Med launches fruquintinib trial in China

Hutchison China MediTech announced on Friday that it has completed patient enrolment of FRESCO, its Phase III trial of fruquintinib in third-line locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer in China.

The AIM-traded company said more than 300,000 new cases of CRC were diagnosed in the country in 2012.

It described fruquintinib as a highly selective small-molecule drug candidate that has been shown to inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 24 hours a day via an oral dose, without known off-target toxicities.

The FRESCO trial is evaluating the efficacy of fruquintinib against placebo, with all patients receiving best supportive care rate.

Chi-Med said the primary endpoint is overall survival.

"Completing enrollment of our first Phase III clinical trial is an important milestone for our company," said Christian Hogg, chief executive officer of Chi-Med.

"We believe fruquintinib has the potential to significantly improve outcomes in several types of solid tumors.

“While we wait for the FRESCO CRC data to mature over the balance of the year, we are focused on accelerating the ongoing Phase III FALUCA pivotal trial in non-small cell lung cancer, and launching additional studies of fruquintinib, including a Phase II study in gastric cancer in combination with paclitaxel, new studies in the US, and certain exploratory studies in combination with other oncology agents,” Hogg explained.