Burning Rock and CStone Pharmaceuticals reached a strategic collaboration on the co-development of companion diagnostics for pralsetinib in China

SHANGHAI, China, June 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On June 29, 2020, Burning Rock Biotech Limited (NASDAQ: BNR) announced a strategic partnership with CStone Pharmaceuticals (HKEX: 2616) to co-develop and commercialize companion diagnostics (CDx) for pralsetinib, an investigational treatment developed by CStone’s partner Blueprint Medicines, in China for the detection of RET alterations in cancer patients.

“In an era of rapid development of precision medicines, CDx is of great significance to accurately identify the patient populations who could benefit from specific therapies. Burning Rock will continue to develop CDx-related products based on advanced next generation sequencing (NGS) technology, and work with partners to promote the clinical application of precision diagnostics and treatment, potentially bringing clinical benefits to more patients,” said Dr. Hao Liu, Chief Medical Officer at Burning Rock. “CStone is an excellent company focusing on innovative immuno-oncology and precision medicine programs. CStone’s partner Blueprint Medicines released promising global data for pralsetinib this June at ASCO 2020. Burning Rock’s close cooperation with CStone is expected to promote the standardization of RET gene testing in China.”

“Precision medicine is one of the core strategies at CStone, and the importance of CDx is self-evident. Burning Rock is the first NASDAQ-listed, oncology-focused, leading NGS company in China. We are very happy to collaborate with this leading company to leverage our respective advantages in CDx development. I believe that CStone and Burning Rock will accelerate the development and commercialization of a CDx for pralsetinib under joint cooperation in China,” said Archie Tse MD, PhD, Chief Translational Medicine Officer at CStone.

Clinical data from the ongoing global ARROW trial of pralsetinib in RET fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were announced at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Virtual Scientific Forum on May 30, 2020. The data included response-evaluable patient populations who received a starting dose of 400 mg once daily. Results showed that as of a data cutoff date of November 18, 2019, the overall response rate was 73 percent (95% CI: 52-88%) in 26 patients with no prior systemic therapy and 61 percent (95% CI: 50-72%) in 80 patients who previously received platinum-based chemotherapy. Among 354 patients who received a starting dose of 400 mg once daily, pralsetinib was well-tolerated and most treatment-related adverse events were Grade 1 or 2. The results of this study support the broad potential of pralsetinib in RET fusion-positive NSCLC.