US Cancer Patients Travel to China for Unapproved Drug Amid Biotech Rivalry

Debbie Doppelt, a 60-year-old New York lung-cancer patient, turned to a pharmacy in China for sunvozertinib after the FDA had not yet cleared the drug for U.S. use. Her son Max secured a supply through family contacts and later traveled to Shanghai for refills, a path taken by roughly 30 other Americans seeking the same treatment. Sunvozertinib, produced by Shanghai’s Dizal Pharmaceutical, received Chinese approval in 2023 and a U.S. FDA license in July 2025, but remains unavailable on the American market.

China’s rapid rise in biotech, now accounting for a large share of global drug trials, has spurred U.S. political debate, with initiatives like Operation TrialBlazer aiming to speed domestic approvals and legislation proposing Treasury oversight of U.S.-China pharma deals. Industry leaders note that faster Chinese trial timelines are attracting investment, while some experts argue that collaboration, not protectionism, best serves cancer research.