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(Alliance News) - Hutchmed (China) Ltd on Wednesday said phase three data for fruquintinib in combination with paclitaxel showed an improvement in overall survival for patients with gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
The immunotherapy developer, which was founded in Hong Kong, said the Frutiga trial was conducted at 35 sites in China to evaluate fruquintinib combined with chemotherapy, paclitaxel, compared with paclitaxel monotherapy for the second-line treatment of 703 patients.
The dual primary endpoints were progression-free survival and overall survival, with the study declared positive as the PFS endpoint met statistical significance, Hutchmed said.
Median PFS for patients who received fruquintinib plus paclitaxel was 5.6 months, compared to 2.7 months for those who received paclitaxel monotherapy, which Hutchmed deemed a "statistically significant improvement."
The results were presented to the American Society of Clinical Oncology on Tuesday.
Hutchmed said: "The presentation concludes that fruquintinib plus paclitaxel could be a promising second-line treatment option for patients with advanced gastric or gastro-esophageal adenocarcinoma who have failed fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing chemotherapy."
Fruquintinib, also known as Fruzaqla, is developed and marketed in China by Hutchmed.
According to the drug developer, gastric cancer is a cancer is the fifth most common cancer worldwide.
Shares in Hutchmed were up 3.1% at 221.60 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Sabrina Penty, Alliance News reporter
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