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Savolitinib: First Approval

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Abstract

Savolitinib (Orpathys®; HUTCHMED, AstraZeneca) is a receptor tyrosine kinase mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (MET) inhibitor being developed for the treatment of metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), papillary and clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), gastric cancer and colorectal cancer. Based on the results of a pivotal phase II trial in patients with NSCLC/pulmonary sarcomatoid carcinoma, savolitinib was recently granted approval in China (conditional on the results of a phase III trial) for the treatment of metastatic NSCLC with MET exon 14-skipping alterations in patients who have progressed after or who are unable to tolerate platinum-based chemotherapy. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of savolitinib leading to this first approval.

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Correspondence to Anthony Markham.

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The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Authorship and conflict of interest

During the peer review process the manufacturer of the agent under review was offered an opportunity to comment on the article. Changes resulting from any comments received were made by the authors on the basis of scientific completeness and accuracy. A. Markham is a salaried employee of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, and declares no relevant conflicts of interest. All authors contributed to the review and are responsible for the article content.

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This profile has been extracted and modified from the AdisInsight database. AdisInsight tracks drug development worldwide through the entire development process, from discovery, through pre-clinical and clinical studies to market launch and beyond.

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Markham, A. Savolitinib: First Approval. Drugs 81, 1665–1670 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-021-01584-0

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