Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company HutchMed on Nov 15 announced that its drug fruquintinib, which is used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, was prescribed for the first time in the United States 48 hours after it received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Nov 8.

This makes fruquintinib the first made-in-Shanghai drug to be prescribed overseas.

The research and development, drug discovery and clinical development of the drug was all performed in China, said Wu Qiang, deputy governor of Shanghai's Pudong New Area, where the company is situated.

In 2020, 1.9 million new colorectal cancer cases were reported worldwide. Nearly half of the cases resulted in death, and the figure is projected to rise to 3.2 million per year by 2024, said Su Weiguo, chief executive officer and chief scientific officer of HutchMed, citing data from the WTO.

"Some 70 percent of the patients with colorectal cancer have the cancer metastasized after initial diagnosis or treatment, and only 14 percent of those serious metastatic colorectal cancer patients can survive five years. This has created a strong demand for treatment of the disease," said Su.

According to Su, fruquintinib is expected to receive approval for use in Europe and Japan in 2024.