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New Yorker flies to Shanghai to buy his mother's lung cancer drug
Max Doppelt brought back 26 boxes of sunvozertinib, a Chinese-developed drug the FDA approved in 2025 but that only reached U.S. pharmacies this month, for about $10,000, and says at least 30 other Americans have made the same trip.
A Manhattan man flew to Shanghai and returned with 26 boxes of a lung cancer drug for his mother, a medicine sold in Chinese pharmacies but not yet available in the United States at the time, KFF Health News reported.
Max Doppelt, a 30-year-old computer engineer, said the supply of sunvozertinib cost him about $10,000. The drug was developed by Shanghai-based Dizal Pharmaceutical and approved in China in 2023.
His mother's cancer had spread to her brain
His mother, Debbie Doppelt, a 60-year-old jeweler, was diagnosed in late 2023 with an unusual form of lung cancer that mostly affects nonsmokers. In December 2024, scans showed it had spread to her brain, with 10 tiny tumors, and the following month she was ruled ineligible for a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering because of scarring in her lungs.
Some 19 months after starting sunvozertinib, her cancer was still largely under control, with the help of radiation and dose adjustments. Doppelt, who quit his tech job and started a company that uses AI to match lung cancer patients with clinical trials, says he knows of at least 30 other Americans who have traveled to China for the drug.
Approved by the FDA, but missing from U.S. shelves
The Food and Drug Administration granted sunvozertinib accelerated approval in July 2025, but the drug did not reach U.S. pharmacies for more than 15 months. AstraZeneca, which signed a worldwide distribution deal with Dizal on Sept. 1, said on Oct. 22 that the drug is now available in the United States under the brand name Zegfrovy.
China plays a growing role in drug development
The case highlights China's rising role in pharmaceutical research: Chinese companies accounted for as much as 46% of new drugs tested worldwide in 2025, according to KFF Health News. The Trump administration launched Operation TrialBlazer in June to speed up FDA processes and draw clinical trials back to the United States.
The Department of Health and Human Services said the FDA cautions patients about the safety and quality risks of drugs obtained abroad.
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