Sutent seems to be active against GIST. Results of a Phase III study published in Lancet this week seemed to indicate that in Gleevec failed patients, treatment with sunitinib increased meadian time to progression from 6 weeks to 27 weeks.
This is of course a good news for the GIST patients who are failing Gleevec because there is nothing available for them right now. Gleevec itself works in only about 75% of the patients, and when it does, it starts failing in about 18-24 months. But Novartis must be worried. The obvious next step for Pfizer is to move Sutent into first line, which means competition for Gleevec.
With Dasatinib breathing down Gleevec's neck in CML, and now Sutent chasing it in GIST, Novartis will need all of its marketing muscle to keep Gleevec sales chugging.
You can expect a Sutent indication for GIST in next 6 to 8 months.
