FDA backs Retevmo for certain lung and thyroid cancers

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval for Retevmo (selpercatinib) capsules to treat three types of tumors – non-small cell lung cancer, medullary thyroid cancer and other types of thyroid cancers – in patients whose tumors have an alteration (mutation or fusion) in a specific gene (RET or “rearranged during transfection”).

Developed by Loxo Oncology, which US pharma major Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) acquired in January last year for around $8 billion, Retevmo is the first therapy approved specifically for cancer patients with the RET gene alterations.

Specifically, the cancers that Retevmo is approved to treat include: