LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Hutchmed China announced on Thursday that it was set to receive a $20m milestone payment from its partner Takeda, after sales of 'Fruzaqla', or fruquintinib, surpassed $200m.

The AIM-traded firm said the drug, used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC), generated $203m in net sales in the nine months through September.

It said the milestone payment marked its first commercial milestone revenue.

Takeda holds exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise fruquintinib outside mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau under the Fruzaqla brand.

Since receiving FDA approval in November, Takeda has expanded its regulatory approvals globally, securing authorisations in the EU, Switzerland, Canada, Japan, the UK, Argentina, Australia, and Singapore in 2024.

Applications were also progressing in additional markets as Takeda broadened access to the treatment across multiple jurisdictions.

"The achievement of $200m in sales is a testament to Takeda's commercial strength in launching global brands, the clinical benefit of fruquintinib and the success of our partnership strategy for commercialising our medicines outside of China," said chief executive and chief scientific officer Dr Weiguo Su.

"Receiving the $20m milestone payment will strengthen our balance sheet as we look to expand the use of fruquintinib into new indications, and highlights our strategy of global partnerships across our broad pipeline."

At 1058 GMT, shares in Hutchmed China were down 2.05% at 286p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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