September 5, 2018, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved the marketing of Fruquintinib Capsules (Elunate), a therapeutic drug for metastatic colorectal cancer. As an innovative drug not previously marketed anywhere in the world, fruquintinib capsules were approved through the priority review and approval procedure.
Fruquintinib capsules are indicated as monotherapy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have previously received chemotherapy based on fluoropyrimidines, oxaliplatin and irinotecan, and who have previously received or are not suitable for anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) therapy (RAS wild-type).
Fruquintinib is a quinazoline-based small-molecule angiogenesis inhibitor, with its main targets being the VEGFR kinase family (VEGFR1, 2 and 3). It inhibits the phosphorylation of VEGFR on the surface of vascular endothelial cells and downstream signal transduction, thereby suppressing the proliferation, migration and lumen formation of vascular endothelial cells, inhibiting tumor neovascularization, and ultimately exerting a tumor growth inhibitory effect.
