Rigel takes up US Gavreto rights ditched by Roche

US biotech Rigel Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: RIGL) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the US rights to cancer drug Gavreto (pralsetinib) from Blueprint Medicines (Nasdaq: BPMC).

The news sent Rigel’s shares up almost 10% to $1.23, while Blueprint dipped 1.5% to $86.85.

Gavreto, which generated nearly $28 million in US product sales in 2023, is a once daily, small molecule, oral, kinase inhibitor of wild-type RET (rearranged during transfection) and oncogenic RET fusions. The drug is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as detected by an FDA approved test.