Deciphera's Cancer Drug Tops Pfizer's Sutent On Safety Front In Gastrointestinal Cancer

The Journal of Clinical Oncology has published results from Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:DCPH) INTRIGUE Phase 3 study of Qinlock (ripretinib) for advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) previously treated with Novartis AG's (NYSE:NVS) Gleevec/Glivec (imatinib).
Although Qinlock did not offer a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) compared to sunitinib, the drug showed meaningful clinical activity with fewer Grade 3/4 treatment-emergent adverse events and improved tolerability.
In addition, Qinlock had a more favorable safety profile than Pfizer Inc's (NYSE:PFE) Sutent (sunitinib), with fewer Grade 3/4 adverse events.
Patients in the Qinlock arm reported less deterioration in role functioning and better outcomes than sunitinib.
In patients with a KIT exon 11 primary mutations, ripretinib demonstrated a median PFS (mPFS) of 8.3 months compared to 7.0 months for the sunitinib arm.
In the intention-to-treat (ITT) population, ripretinib demonstrated an mPFS of 8.0 months vs. 8.3 months.
In patients with a KIT exon 11 primary mutations, ripretinib demonstrated an objective response rate of 23.9% vs. 14.6%, and 21.7% vs. 17.6% in the ITT populations.
The FDA has approved Qinlock for advanced GIST patients who have received prior treatment with three or more kinase inhibitors.
Price Action: DCPH shares traded 3.66% lower at $16.57 on the last check Thursday.

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