Mirati takes a turn at the podium with a first look at its KRAS-blocking cancer drug

A pill from Mirati Therapeutics developed to block the “undruggable” cancer protein called KRAS showed partial tumor responses in three patients with lung cancer and a single patient with colon cancer, according to preliminary results released Monday.

The first-in-human clinical data for the drug, called MRTX849, are scant — encompassing only 12 patients — but they are also significant, in that they will invigorate a debate that has simmered for months: Who has the superior KRAS-blocking drug: Mirati or Amgen?

Amgen unveiled the first clinical data on its drug, called AMG 510, last June and has since presented two significant updates in lung cancer and colon cancer. Mirati’s turn at the podium came Monday at the International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and two other groups.

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