InnoCare Pharma (HKEX: 09969), a leading biopharmaceutical company for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, announced  that its new generation pan-TRK inhibitor zurletrectinib (ICP-723) has been granted priority review by the Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) of the China National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), which accepted the New Drug Application (NDA) of zurletrectinib for the treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors harboring NTRK gene fusions recently. Priority review is one of the key policies introduced by the CDE to accelerate drug approval.

In the registrational trial for patients with NTRK fusion-positive solid tumors, zurletrectinib demonstrated outstanding efficacy with a good safety profile.

Dr. Jasmine Cui, the co-founder, chairwoman and CEO of InnoCare, said, “We are delighted that zurletrectinib has been granted priority review. Zurletrectinib has demonstrated outstanding efficacy and a favorable safety profile. We anticipate it will provide better treatment options for eligible patients with solid tumors earlier.”

Zurletrectinib is a pan-TRK inhibitor developed by InnoCare. British Journal of Cancer, part of leading science journal Nature, published a paper entitled "Zurletrectinib is a next-generation TRK inhibitor with strong intracranial activity against NTRK fusion-positive tumors with on-target resistance to first-generation agents"¹.

NTRK fusion genes occur in various types of adult and pediatric tumors. In some rare tumors, such as salivary gland carcinoma, secretory breast cancer, and infantile fibrosarcoma, the incidence of NTRK gene fusion exceeds 90%². It is estimated that there are about 6,500 new cases of NTRK fusion-positive solid tumors are diagnosed in China each year. There are significant unmet clinical needs in this area due to lack of effective treatment options.