HUTCHMED (China) Limited ("HUTCHMED") (Nasdaq/AIM:HCM; HKEX:13) today announces that the Center for Drug Evaluation of China's National Medical Products Administration ("NMPA") has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation ("BTD") to the combination of ORPATHYS (savolitinib) and TAGRISSO (osimertinib) for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor ("EGFR") mutation‐positive non‐small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC") with MET amplification after disease progression on EGFR inhibitor therapy. ORPATHYS is an oral, potent and highly selective MET tyrosine kinase inhibitor ("TKI"). TAGRISSO is a third-generation, irreversible EGFR TKI.

This treatment combination is being evaluated in China in the ongoing multi-center, open-label, randomized, controlled, Phase III SACHI trial. The study is investigating the efficacy and safety of a combination of ORPATHYS and TAGRISSO compared to platinum-based doublet-chemotherapy (pemetrexed plus cisplatin or carboplatin), the standard‐of‐care treatment option, in patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC with MET amplification after failure of EGFR inhibitor therapy. The primary endpoint of the study is progression-free survival ("PFS") as assessed by investigators. Other endpoints include PFS assessed by an independent review committee, overall survival (OS), objective response rate (ORR), duration of response (DoR), disease control rate (DCR), time to response (TTR), and safety (NCT05015608).

NMPA grants BTD to new drugs that treat life-threatening diseases or serious conditions for which there are no effective treatment options, and where clinical evidence demonstrates significant advantages over existing therapies. Drug candidates with BTD may be considered for conditional approval and priority review when submitting an NDA. This indicates that the development and review of the therapy for this disease indication may be expedited, to address patients' unmet needs more quickly.