Precision Targeted Therapy with BLU-667 for RET-Driven Cancers

The receptor tyrosine kinase rearranged during transfection (RET) is an oncogenic driver activated in multiple cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC}, medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), and papillary thyroid cancer. No approved therapies have been designed to target RET; treatment has been limited to multikinase inhibitors (MKI), which can have significant off-target toxicities and limited efficacy. BLU-667 is a highly potent and selective RET inhibitor designed to overcome these limitations. In vitro, BLU-667 demonstrated >= 10-fold increased potency over approved MKIs against oncogenic RET variants and resistance mutants. In vivo, BLU-667 potently inhibited growth of NSCLC and thyroid cancer xenografts driven by various RET mutations and fusions without inhibiting VEGFR2. In first-in-human testing, BLU-667 significantly inhibited RET signaling and induced durable clinical responses in patients with RET-altered NSCLC and MTC without notable off-target toxicity, providing clinical validation for selective RET targeting. SIGNIFICANCE: Patients with RET-driven cancers derive limited benefit from available MKIs. BLU-667 is a potent and selective RET inhibitor that induces tumor regression in cancer models with RET mutations and fusions, BLU-667 attenuated RET signaling and produced durable clinical responses in patients with RET-altered tumors, clinically validating selective RET targeting. (C) 2018 AACR.