China-based CStone Pharmaceuticals (HKG: 2616) has entered into a partnership with Shanghai Rigen Biotech to collaborate on thyroid cancer RET gene testing business.
Under the agreement, the two companies will jointly conduct thyroid cancer precision diagnosis and treatment academic activities, collaborate on thyroid cancer RET gene detection projects, and assist hospitals in building thyroid cancer molecular detection platforms. The partnership aims to increase the accessibility of thyroid cancer RET gene testing and CStone’s RET inhibitor Gavreto (pralsetinib), which was in-licensed from US-based biotech Blueprint Medicines in June 2018. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed.
Gavreto’s Regulatory Milestones
CStone received its first approval in China for Gavreto as a treatment for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with positive RET gene fusion in March 2021. A year later, the drug gained approval to treat RET-mutant medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and RET fusion-positive thyroid cancer in China. Studies have shown that Gavreto, the first drug of its kind to treat RET mutant thyroid cancer in China, achieved a 73.1% objective response rate in Chinese patients with advanced or metastatic RET mutant MTC and an 84.6% disease control rate, with a manageable safety profile.-Fineline Info & Tech
