— Breakthrough Therapy Designations granted for ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients pretreated with one prior line of ROS1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) with or without prior chemotherapy
— Potential best-in-class therapy for ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC and NTRK-positive advanced solid tumors
SHANGHAI and SAN FRANCISCO and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ:ZLAB, HKEX: 9688))))), a patient-focused, innovative, commercial-stage, global biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) granted two Breakthrough Therapy Designations for investigational repotrectinib for the treatment of patients with ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC who have received one prior line of ROS1 TKI and one prior line of platinum-based chemotherapy (EXP-2) and for those with ROS1-positive metastatic NSCLC who have received one prior line of ROS1 TKI and no chemotherapy or immunotherapy (EXP-4). The Breakthrough Therapy Designations for repotrectinib were supported by the data from both global and Chinese TKI-pretreated ROS1-positive NSCLC patients enrolled in the Phase 1/2 TRIDENT-1 study.
“Since repotrectinib received Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the CDE earlier this year for ROS1-positive TKI-naïve patients, today’s recognition further supports repotrectinib as a potential best-in-class treatment for ROS1-positive NSCLC in both TKI-naïve and pretreated patients in China,” said Alan Sandler, M.D., President and Head of Global Development, Oncology at Zai Lab. “There remain significant unmet needs for ROS1-positive NSCLC patients, and we look forward to our continued partnership with regulatory authorities in China to bring this important medicine to patients in need as soon as possible.”
The Breakthrough Therapy Designation review policy is designed to facilitate the development and expeditious review of novel medicines that are intended for the prevention or treatment of serious, life-threatening diseases or diseases that severely impact the quality of life for which there is no existing treatment, or where sufficient evidence indicates advantages of the novel drug over currently available treatment options. Drugs granted Breakthrough Therapy Designations receive priority communications and guidance from the CDE to promote and expedite the drug development process.
Lung cancer is both the most commonly diagnosed cancer type and the leading cause of cancer death in China. The incidence of lung cancer in China in 2020 was 815,563 cases, with 714,699 deaths1. NSCLC accounts for approximately 85% of lung cancer, and about 70% of NSCLC is locally advanced or metastatic at initial diagnosis. In China, ROS1 rearrangements occur in 2-3% of patients with advanced NSCLC.
1Globocan 2020.
