Hutchison China MediTech Limited (“Chi-Med”) (AIM/Nasdaq: HCM) today announces that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) has granted Orphan Drug designation to surufatinib for the treatment of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (“NET”).
“NET is an area of significant unmet medical need. The current treatment options are very limited,” said Christian Hogg, CEO of Chi-Med. “The FDA granting Orphan designation is a positive step and continues to reinforce the importance of our research and development in bringing surufatinib to more patients in need.”
If approved by the FDA as an orphan treatment, surufatinib will be entitled to seven years of market exclusivity for the approved indication. Orphan Drug designation also affords certain development cost benefits in the U.S.
Surufatinib is under investigation in multiple solid tumors in China and the U.S., both as a monotherapy and in combination with immunotherapies.
Surufatinib is the second novel oncology drug discovered by Chi-Med to successfully complete a Phase III trial in China. A New Drug Application (“NDA”) for surufatinib for the treatment of patients with advanced non-pancreatic NET was accepted for review by the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) on November 11, 2019.
