AstraZeneca and HUTCHMED’s Orpathys has been granted conditional approval in China to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with MET exon 14 skipping alterations who have progressed following prior systemic therapy or are unable to receive chemotherapy.

This approval follows a priority review designation by the Center for Drug Evaluation of China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and marks the first global regulatory approval for the oral MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI).

Based on positive results from a single-arm Phase II trial

The approval by the NMPA was based on positive results from a single-arm Phase II trial conducted in China in patients with NSCLC with this mutation, including patients with the PSC subtype. Orpathys demonstrated robust anti-tumour activity based on an independent review of objective response rate (ORR) in the trial’s primary endpoint and its disease control rate (DCR), states the company in its press release. Continued approval is contingent upon the successful completion of a confirmatory trial in this patient population.

“This approval makes Orpathys the only targeted medicine approved for these biomarker-selected patients in China, and it adds another novel medicine to our already diverse lung cancer portfolio. We are proud that this first-ever regulatory approval of Orpathys is in China, where we have a long-standing commitment to improving patient outcomes and working with the right partners to achieve that goal. Alongside HUTCHMED, we look forward to the continued development of this medicine across a range of cancers where MET alterations and amplification are drivers of tumour growth and treatment resistance,” says Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President, Oncology Business Unit, AstraZeneca.

Read more: Exclusive R&D interview: David Fredrickson

A joint global development programme with HUTCHMED

As part of the joint global development programme with HUTCHMED, Orpathysis being evaluated in combination with Tagrisso and other medicines to address tumour mechanisms of resistance in NSCLC in the ORCHARD and SAVANNAH Phase II trials for the combinations to provide longer duration of benefit, and as a treatment for other MET-driven tumours, including papillary renal cell carcinoma, and gastric and gastroesophageal junction cancers.

Photo AstraZeneca China