Blueprint Medicines has new data for its lead cancer drug avapritinib in gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) that set it on course for regulatory filings – and a close race to market with rival Deciphera. Avapritinib is an oral inhibitor of KIT and PDGFRA kinases and is being developed for GIST and systemic mastocytosis (SM), two diseases that are linked to mutations in these enzymes. New data from its phase 1 NAVIGATOR trial showed activity across all lines of therapy for patients with PDGFRα D842V-driven GIST, as well as in second-, third- and fourth-line for other GIST patients.
Blueprint’s chief executive Jeff Albers said on a conference call that the biotech is now hoping to file the drug in the US in the first half of next year for PDGFRA-driven GIST, as well as fourth-line, ‘all-comer’ GIST patients. There are currently no approved drugs for either of these indications. That timeline would keep Blueprint in contention with Deciphera, which reported phase 1 results with its DCC-2618 candidate at the ESMO meeting last month.