FDA Approves Thermo Fisher’s NGS-based CDx Test for RET-Positive Thyroid Cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval to Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Oncomine Dx Target Test as a companion diagnostic (CDx) to aid in selection of patients with RET-fusion positive locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), RET-fusion positive advanced or metastatic thyroid cancer and RET-mutation positive advanced or metastatic medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) who may be eligible for treatment with Lilly’s Retevmo (selpercatinib).

This marks the Thermo Fisher Oncomine Dx Target Test’s first approval as a CDx for a therapy targeting RET-positive thyroid cancer and second approval associated with RET-positive NSCLC. 

Initially approved in 2020, Retevmo is a selective RET kinase inhibitor and was the first therapy approved for patients with advanced RET-driven lung and thyroid cancers. RET (rearranged during transfection) alterations are found in approximately 2% of patients with NSCLC, which is the leading cause of adult cancer death in the United States, 60% of patients with MTC, and 20% in other thyroid cancers.

The Oncomine Dx Target test is a next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based test that can detect multiple alterations at once from a small sample size, helping to quickly match patients with the appropriate targeted therapy. It is also approved in Japan as a companion diagnostic for Retevmo in the same indications. The test is the only globally distributable NGS CDx solution that has received regulatory approval in 17 countries for 15 targeted therapies, covering more than 550 million lives globally. 

“Following the Oncomine Dx Target Test’s first approval in 2017, we have worked to advance access to companion diagnostics for targeted therapies on a global scale,” says Garret Hampton, president, clinical next generation sequencing and oncology at Thermo Fisher Scientific in his statement regarding the approval. “As we continue to pursue additional approvals alongside our biopharma partners, we remain committed to broadening access to NGS-based testing to ensure patients and clinicians everywhere can benefit from it.”