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)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)