FRANKFURT, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Merck KGaA's
prospective lung cancer treatment tepotinib became the third
drug against a rare and aggressive subtype of the disease that
won U.S. Food and Drug Administration's breakthrough therapy
designation.
Novartis last week won the breakthrough therapy
tag, which puts it on a fast track for regulatory review, for
its capmatinib drug. Pfizer's Xalkori drug was given the
designation https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer_s_xalkori_crizotinib_receives_fda_breakthrough_therapy_designation_in_two_new_indications-0
last year.
All three medicines are designed to tackle the so-called MET
exon14 skipping mutation in the genetic makeup of a lung tumour,
which accounts for 3% to 5% of all non-small cell lung (NSCLC)
cancer cases.
Germany's Merck KGaA, which in February struck a large
collaboration deal over cancer immunotherapy bintrafusp alfa
with GSK, reiterated on Wednesday that it would develop
tepotinib under its own steam.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger, editing by Riham Alkousaa)