Mirati’s KRAS Inhibitor Gains Edge On Efficacy, But Safety Trails Amgen’s Competing Drug

Long-awaited data on Mirati Therapeutics, Inc.’s KRAS G12C inhibitor in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as colorectal cancer (CRC), sparked excitement from observers, but raise questions about how the drug’s safety-efficacy profile stacks up against a similar drug from Amgen, Inc. The efficacy data on KRAS G12C inhibitors have also sparked discussion about combination strategies, particularly with SHP-2 inhibitors, another emerging class of small molecules.

The data from Mirati’s Phase I/Ib and Phase II studies of MRTX849 (adagrasib) – presented on 25 October at the EORTC-NCI-AACR conference – included 110 patients with NSCLC, CRC and other solid tumors. The efficacy data included 51 patients with NSCLC, 18 with CRC, one patient each with pancreatic, ovarian, endometrial and cholangiocarcinoma tumors and two with appendiceal cancer