NEW YORK – Turning Point Therapeutics on Friday began a collaboration with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to evaluate two of its precision oncology candidates, ROS1/NTRK inhibitor repotrectinib and MET inhibitor elzovantinib.
In the collaboration researchers will study both drugs as a monotherapy and in combination with other agents such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and other targeted treatments. Over five years the two entities will conduct preclinical and clinical studies together in various solid tumors, including non-small cell lung, gastrointestinal, and endocrine cancers.
Turning Point will provide funding, study materials, and other ongoing support for the research throughout the collaboration.
"Our alliance with Turning Point represents an important opportunity to work toward advancing new treatment options for patients using novel inhibitors that target multiple driver mutations with the most characterized resistance patterns in common cancers," John Heymach, chair of thoracic and head and neck medical oncology at MD Anderson, said in a statement.
San Diego-based Turning Point is exploring repotrectinib in an ongoing registrational Phase I/II study, called TRIDENT-1, in patients with ROS1-positive advanced NSCLC and NTRK-positive advanced solid tumors. The company also has a Phase I/II trial of repotrectinib in pediatric advanced solid tumors harboring ALK, ROS1, or NTRK1-3 alterations and a trial exploring the drug with Novartis' Mekinist (trametinib) in KRAS-mutant solid tumors.
Turning Point is studying elzovantinib in the Phase I SHIELD-1 trial in patients with MET-driven advanced solid tumors including NSCLC and gastric cancers. The firm is also planning to study elzovantinib with an EGFR inhibitor.
Earlier this month, Bristol Myers Squibb announced it would acquire Turning Point in a $4.1 billion deal.