Massachusetts-based company is working on new treatments for gastrointestinal cancers. GSK has struck a deal worth up to $1.15bn (£950m) to acquire a Massachusetts-based developer of rare cancer therapies, in an attempt to bolster its expanding oncology business.
GSK, Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker behind AstraZeneca, said the acquisition of IDRx, based in Plymouth near Boston, would help it target a “major gap in the current standard of care” related to gastrointestinal cancers. The company, which was set up two-and-a-half years ago, is working on treatments for gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST), a rare cancer that develops in the digestive system, and is diagnosed in 80,000 to 120,000 new patients worldwide each year. Two-fifths of cases are driven by mutations in the KIT gene that lead to the growth of tumour cells, most commonly in the stomach or small intestine.
The US company’s lead treatment, IDRX-42, targets those mutations. The company has published promising data from an early-stage clinical trial in patients with advanced GIST. Tim Clackson, the chief executive of IDRx, said: “We are looking forward to working with GSK to advance IDRX-42 for patients with GIST given there have been no major advances to the standard of care for almost 20 years.
