Eli Lilly therapeutic shows potential in thyroid cancer

Eli Lilly and Company’s highly selective and potent RET kinase inhibitor for advanced medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) has demonstrated superior progression-free survival (PFS) compared to approved multikinase inhibitors.

These topline results are from an interim efficacy analysis of a Phase III study that compared Retevmo^® (selpercatinib) against multikinase inhibitors (MKIs) cabozantinib or vandetanib.

Retevmo’s potential in oncology

The Phase III study LIBRETTO-531 enrolled 291 patients and is the first randomised trial to compare the safety and efficacy of a highly selective RET-kinase inhibitor with multikinase inhibitors in this patient population.

“These data from the LIBRETTO-531 trial confirm the importance of selectivity in targeting RET-driven cancers and suggest Retevmo should be considered the preferred first-line treatment for people with advanced RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer,” explained Dr David Hyman, Chief Medical Officer, Loxo@Lilly, an arm of Eli Lilly dedicated to oncology.

These results for Retevmo further build on the data from LIBRETTO-001, the largest clinical trial of patients with RET-driven cancers treated with a RET inhibitor. More than 800 patients from 16 countries were included in the trial. Retevmo demonstrated clinically meaningful and durable responses across a variety of tumor types in patients with RET-driven cancers in this study.

Alongside LIBRETTO-001 and LIBRETTO-531, the development programme for Retevmo includes the trials LIBRETTO-121 and LIBRETTO-321.

Full results from the LIBRETTO-531 clinical trial for Retevmo will be presented at an upcoming medical meeting.

Eli Lilly’s advancing therapeutic portfolio

Building on its recent clinical development progress in oncology, Eli Lilly announced earlier this month that it had completed the acquisition of Versanis Bio and Sigilon Therapeutics. Both biopharma companies have lead assets focusing on obesity and diabetes.

Recent analysis by GlobalData demonstrated Eli Lilly’s evolution in developing treatments for conditions such as obesity and metabolic disorders, stating that the company witnessed “the largest market capitalisation growth of 36.1 percent over Q2 2023”.