Redx said a commemorative plaque has been unveiled at its HQ at Alderley Park in recognition of its discovery of pirtobrutinib, the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in Eli Lilly's cancer treatment Jaypirca.
On 27 January 2023, Lilly announced the approval of pirtobrutinib by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) after at least two lines of systemic therapy, including a BTK inhibitor.
Steve Bates OBE, UK BioIndustry Association chief executive, commented: "The approval of pirtobrutinib is a testament to the potential of the UK biotech industry to discover important new treatments for unmet medical needs.
“The team at Redx should be incredibly proud to have originated a molecule that has made it to market given that fewer than 5% of preclinical projects currently achieve this milestone.”
Pirtobrutinib is a highly selective kinase inhibitor and is the first and only FDA-approved non-covalent (reversible) BTK inhibitor available.
Formerly known as RXC005, pirtobrutinib was discovered by Dr Nicolas Guisot, Vice President, Drug Discovery and the team at Redx.
RXC005 was divested to Loxo Oncology (NASDAQ:LOXO) in July 2017.