Ripretinib

MTX240's mechanistic novelty may give it a long-awaited edge in treatments for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) Meg Flippin, Benzinga Staff Writer CARDIFF, UK / ACCESS Newswire / February 19, 2026 / Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC (NASDAQ:BDRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of innovative products for the treatment of rare diseases with an increasing focus on products to treat or prevent gastrointestinal cancers, has added a new Phase 1 ready candidate to its portfolio, this time to target gastrointestinal stromal tumors, or GIST. Several drugs are available to treat GIST, but all ultimately fail when the tumor develops resistance. When that occurs, median overall survival drops to less than a year. The value and hope of a better drug is at least partially evidenced by the eye-popping $1 billion GSK paid last year for a Phase 1 candidate, even though it shares the same mechanism of action as the currently approved drugs. MTX240's unique molecular glue mechanism of action separates it from the current standard of care, notes Stephen Stamp, CEO of Biodexa. "It has the potential to benefit a broader spectrum of GIST patients, including those with TKI-resistant disease, and it strategically aligns with our emerging GI/oncology pipeline which includes our ongoing phase 3 development of eRapa in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis." What is GIST? GIST is a hard-to-treat tumor that grows mainly in the stomach wall and is caused by mutations in the so-called Interstitial Cells of Cajal (ICCs) which facilitate gut motility. Mutations in the key tyrosine kinase proteins KIT or PDGFR perturb intra-cellular signaling pathways in ICCs, causing rapid cell proliferation and tumorgenesis. Patients typically undergo resection but, once the GIST becomes unmanageable or the tumors are unresectable, targeted treatments called tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the current standard of care. Current standard of care Currently, there are four approved TKI treatments for GIST, generally prescribed in the following order as GIST mutations occur and patients acquire resistance to each of them - (1) imatinib (Gleevec) from Novartis AG (NVS); (2) sunitinib (Sutent) from Pfizer Inc. (PFE); (3) regorafenib (Stivarga) from Bayer AG . (BAYN); and (4) ripretinib (Qinlock) from Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc (DCPH). Once patients have cycled through the available TKIs, having acquired resistance to all of them, median time to tumor progression is 1.2 months and median overall survival is 9.8 months. As a result of these shortcomings, drug developers, including Biodexa, are jockeying for position in what is currently a $1.3 billion market [1] , with projected growth of around 6.6% annually through 2032. It makes sense that drug developers are eyeing this market. In the U.S. alone, between 4,000 and 6,000 people are diagnosed with GIST each year [2] . Globally, the number of new GIST patient annually is estimated at between 80,000 to 120,000. Biodexa's novel drug candidate - MTX240 Enter MTX240, Biodexa's latest developmental treatment, which it recently licensed from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. MTX240 is a novel molecular glue that works by forcing PDE3A and SLFN12, two proteins expressed in GIST cells to bind together, in turn triggering the tumor cells to self-destruct in a process called apoptosis. Importantly, healthy ICCs do not significantly express either of these proteins and are not therefore affected by MTX240. Unlike the TKIs that frequently fail once the tumor cells mutate, and render the drug ineffective, MTX240's unique mechanism of action is designed to work whether or not the GIST has acquired secondary mutations. Early success and promise In preclinical PDX models, which use human tumor tissues to mirror real-world genetic complexity, MTX240 demonstrated dose-dependent efficacy in shrinking GIST in both non-resistant (left hand chart) and TKI-resistant tumors (middle and right hand chart) as illustrated below [3]: Note: MTX240 was coded OPB-171775 by Otsuka in the charts. If the preclinical results are replicated in clinical trials and MTX240 proves to be lethal to GIST without inducing resistance, it has the potential for co-administration with TKIs and ultimately, to replace the entire class. MTX240 is eligible for FDA and EU Orphan Drug designation, which means the company is eligible for seven and 10 years of market exclusivity upon approval in the US and EU, respectively. In addition, MTX240 has issued Composition of Matter patents extending through 2037. Next steps Next step is to manufacture clinical trial supplies of MTX240 and then initiate a Phase 1b/2a study by year-end. The study is expected to be in two parts: a standard dose escalation part to determine a maximum tolerated dose, followed by an extension part. The extension part is likely to enrol patients with TKI-resistant GIST. By focusing on this high-need population, Biodexa is aiming to rapidly validate MTX240's potential as a way to treat patients who don't respond to the current standards of care. Deal validation Biodexa in-licensed exclusive worldwide rights to MTX240 with the exception of Japan rights, which were retained by Otsuka for an undisclosed upfront fee. The deal includes one modest development milestone, low double digit approval milestones and mid single-digit tiered royalties. Biodexa's entrance into the GIST market with MTX240 puts it in a space that's garnering interest from Big Pharma as well as Wall Street. Take GSK Plc. (GSK) as one example. In January 2025 GSK paid $1 billion cash upfront to buy IDRx, Inc., a single product company developing IDRX-42, another TKI for GIST that was in Phase 1 at the time [4]. Meanwhile, Cogent Biosciences Inc. (COGT), which is developing bezuclastinib (another TKI) for co-administration with sunitinib, saw its market cap surge approximately $2Bn following the release of Phase 3 trial data [5], which demonstrated bezuclastinib plus sunitinib compared with sunitinib alone extended median progression free survival from 9.2 months to 16.5 months in imatinib-resistant patients, underscoring the importance of this sector [6]. With Biodexa showing promising initial results with MTX240, this is a treatment investors may want to pay attention to. To learn more about Biodexa and MTX240, click here . References: DataBridge Market Research. (2023). Gastrointestinal stromal tumor market size, trends and forecasts (2024-2032). Retrieved from Zhu, H., et al. (2023). Update of epidemiology, survival and initial treatment in gastrointestinal stromal tumor: A population-based analysis. BMJ Open, 13(7), e072945. Takaki, E. O., et al. (2024). A PDE3A-SLFN12 molecular glue exhibits significant antitumor activity in TKI-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Clinical Cancer Research. GSK. (2025, January 13). GSK enters agreement to acquire IDRx, Inc. Talk Bio. (2025, November 11). Cogent Biosciences soars on positive Phase 3 PEAK results in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Cogent Biosciences Stock Soars 346% in a Year, but One Fund Just Sold Off $4.5 Million Cogent Biosciences, Inc. (2025, November 10). Cogent Biosciences reports positive results from bezuclastinib PEAK Phase 3 trial in gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). Featured image from Shutterstock . This post contains sponsored content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice. Please see 17(b) disclosure here for more information. Click here for more information on Biodexa Pharmaceuticals. Contact: Stephen Stamp, CEO, CFO ir@biodexapharma.com Important notice, please read : Certain statements in this article may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of legislation in the United Kingdom and/or United States. Such statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are based on management's belief or interpretation. All statements contained in this article that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved." Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict, that may cause their actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein. Reference should be made to those documents that Biodexa shall time to time or announcements that may be made by Biodexa in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC, which contain and identify other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any projections or forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this article. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or concerning Biodexa are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. Except as may be required under relevant laws in the United States, Biodexa does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements because of new information, future events or events otherwise arising. SOURCE: Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

– Regulatory submission is based on positive results from the Phase 2 PROSPECT Study — – FDA sets PDUFA Date of December 18, 2026 — OSAKA, Japan & WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, a member of Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President and COO: Toichi Takino; “Ono”), today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for filing the New Drug Application (NDA) under the accelerated approval pathway for tirabrutinib, a highly selective irreversible, second generation Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor, for the treatment of relapsed or refractory primary central nervous system lymphoma (R/R PCNSL). The FDA has set an action date of December 18, 2026, under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). “R/R PCNSL is a rare and aggressive form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma with particularly poor clinical outcomes. Patients often experience difficulty and delay in diagnosis, and once they are diagnosed, there is a high unmet need for a treatment with a favorable safety profile,” said Matthew L. Sherman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Deciphera. “The FDA’s acceptance of tirabrutinib’s NDA for filing is an exciting milestone as it brings us one step closer to our goal of providing patients with R/R PCNSL an important new treatment option.” “We are very pleased that the NDA for tirabrutinib has been accepted for filing,” said Toichi Takino, President and COO of Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. “This is an important milestone on the way to expanding our commercial pipeline and achieving our goal of becoming a global specialty pharma. Tirabrutinib’s potential to address unmet patient needs embodies our corporate philosophy and we will continue to focus on developing and delivering innovative medicines to benefit patients worldwide.” The NDA is supported by the positive results from the Phase 2 PROSPECT study, presented at the 2025 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, in which tirabrutinib demonstrated an overall response rate of 67%, a complete response rate of 44%, and a manageable safety profile. If approved, tirabrutinib will be the first BTK inhibitor therapy commercially available in the U.S. for the treatment of patients with R/R PCNSL, and the third commercial therapy for Ono group available in the U.S. The study is currently recruiting patients with R/R PCNSL in a global Phase 3 randomized trial, which will serve as a confirmatory study for this indication (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07104032.) About Tirabrutinib Tirabrutinib, discovered and developed by Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., is a highly potent selective BTK inhibitor. Signaling through the B-cell receptor (BCR) regulates cellular proliferation and activation, and promotes survival, differentiation, and clonal expansion of B-cells. The BCR signaling pathway plays an important role in a number of B-cell malignancies. In Japan, tirabrutinib was approved in March 2020 for the treatment of R/R PCNSL and launched under the tradename of Velexbru ® in May 2020. It was subsequently approved for the treatment of Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia and lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma in August 2020. Tirabrutinib was approved for the treatment of R/R PCNSL in South Korea in November 2021 and in Taiwan in February 2022. About PCNSL PCNSL is a rare and aggressive extra-nodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) that is confined to the brain parenchyma, spinal cord, eye, or leptomeninges without systemic involvement. The annual incidence rate of PCNSL is approximately five cases per 1,000,000 people in the U.S. The rate can further increase among immuno-compromised people aged 65 years and older. The signs and symptoms presented in patients with PCNSL vary depending on the neuroanatomical site of the lesion, and include cranial neuropathy, neuropsychiatric symptoms, symptoms associated with increased intracranial pressure, seizures, ocular symptoms, headache, dysmotility, cranial neuropathy, and radiculopathy. There is a high unmet need for a treatment with a favorable safety profile, and data guiding therapeutic approaches are very limited. Despite recent progress resulting in the improvement of clinical outcomes in newly diagnosed patients with PCNSL after an induction treatment, approximately 20 to 30 percent of patients are refractory to the initial treatment, and up to 60 percent of patients will eventually relapse. To learn more about R/R PCNSL, please visit navigatingpcnsl.com. About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc. Deciphera, a member of Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing important new medicines and providing hope to people living with cancer, neurologic and autoimmune disease. Deciphera is leveraging its proprietary switch-control kinase inhibitor platform and deep expertise in kinase biology to develop a broad portfolio of innovative medicines. In addition to advancing multiple product candidates from Deciphera’s platform in clinical studies, QINLOCK ® (ripretinib) is Deciphera’s switch-control kinase inhibitor approved in many countries including the European Union and the United States for the treatment of adult patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) who have received prior treatment with 3 or more kinase inhibitors, including imatinib. ROMVIMZA ® (vimseltinib) is a kinase inhibitor approved in the United States for adult patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) for which surgical resection will potentially cause worsening functional limitation or severe morbidity, and in the European Union for adult patients with TGCT associated with clinically relevant physical function deterioration and in whom surgical options have been exhausted or would induce unacceptable morbidity or disability. For more information, visit and follow us on LinkedIn and X (@Deciphera). About Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. delivers innovative therapies for patients worldwide. Upholding its philosophy of “Dedicated to the Fight against Disease and Pain,” Ono targets areas with unmet medical needs including oncology, immunology, and neurology, and fosters partnerships with academic and biotech organizations to accelerate drug discovery. Through its affiliate, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Ono is accelerating clinical development and commercial operations in the US and Europe to drive global business expansion and further its commitment to patient care. For more information, please visit the company's website at . Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements In this press release, statements made with respect to current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs, and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements about the future performance of the company. These statements are based on current assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: (i) changes in the business environment in the pharmaceutical market and amendments to relevant laws and regulations, (ii) disruptions to product supply due to stagnation or delays in production caused by natural disasters, fires, etc., (iii) the possibility that sales activities for new and existing products may not achieve the expected results, (iv) the emergence of new side effects in post-marketing drugs, and (v) infringements of intellectual property rights by third parties. Information about pharmaceutical products included in this press release is not intended to constitute an advertisement or medical advice. Contacts Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Media: media_inquiries@ono-pharma.com Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Media: David Rosen Argot Partners david.rosen@argotpartners.com 646-461-6387