What type of drug is Vitrakvi (larotrectinib)?

Vitrakvi is an inhibitor of the tropomyosin receptor kinases, TRKA, TRKB, and TRKC. Vitrakvi is used to treat adults and children with solid tumors.

In November 2018 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Vitrakvi (larotrectinib), an oral treatment for adults and children with solid tumors that have a neurotrophic receptor tyrosine kinase (NTRK) gene fusion. Vitrakvi is the first TRK inhibitor for cancers that express this mutation.

• NTRK genes may be fused to other genes, leading to a TRK fusion protein that results in solid tumors across various sites.
• NTRK fusions are rare cancers but arise in many places in the body, and include soft tissue sarcoma, salivary gland cancer, infantile fibrosarcoma, thyroid cancer and lung cancer.
• Vitrakvi is also the second approval for cancers based on a common gene mutation rather than site of origin; Keytruda (pembrolizumab) was the first.