Lausanne – Ariad pharmaceuticals initiated a midstage study to evaluate the efficacy of Iclusig, or ponatinib, in patients with metastatic or recurrent gastrointestinal stromal tumors that do not respond to existing treatments. The drug was approved in the U.S. last year for chronic myeloid leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The trial, which will involve around 45 patients, will be carried out at three centers in the U.S.
