Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARIA) Tuesday announced the presentation of preclinical data on gastrointestinal stromal tumors or GIST compound ponatinib or Iclusig, at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. Ariad said ponatinib inhibits activated and mutated forms of KIT, a clinically proven oncogenic driver found in approximately 80 percent of patients with GIST. The company further said it plans to begin a Phase 2 trial of Iclusig in patients with GIST in the second quarter.
Commenting on the development, Timothy Clackson, chief scientific officer at ARIAD said, "For the first time we were able to solve the x-ray crystal structure of ponatinib bound to KIT, rationalizing its activity in advance of the Phase 2 trial...These data provide important support for the use of Iclusig in patients with GIST who have become resistant to prior tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy."
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