Kura Doses First Patient In Phase 1 Trial

Kura Oncology (NASDAQ:KURA) announced the first dosing of a patient for a Phase 1 clinical trial of KO-947.
As quoted in the press release:

“We are committed to the discovery and development of product candidates that target oncogenes and oncogenic pathways for the treatment of cancer,” said Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., President and CEO of Kura. “We believe KO-947 holds much promise as a potential therapeutic, and its advancement into the clinic underscores Kura’s productivity and commitment to building a diverse pipeline of precision medicines.”
“The RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway is dysregulated in more than 30% of human cancers, including tumors arising from mutations in KRAS, NRAS and BRAF, encompassing a number of cancer indications with significant unmet medical need,” said Antonio Gualberto, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Kura. “We believe the unique and differentiated drug properties of KO-947, as well as a significant body of preclinical data including data just presented at the AACR meeting this week, make it a compelling therapeutic candidate, and we look forward to evaluating its tolerability and activity in the clinic.”
The Phase 1 trial of KO-947 is designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose of KO-947 in patients with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic, relapsed and/or refractory, non-hematological malignancies. The trial design includes a dose escalation, maximum–tolerated dose expansion and one or more tumor-specific extension cohorts. Currently, two tumor-specific cohorts, non-small cell lung cancer with mutations in RAS or BRAF and squamous cell carcinomas, have been identified as potential extension cohorts. Additional information about this clinical trial is available at clinicaltrials.gov using the identifier: NCT03051035
About KO-947
KO-947 is a potent and selective small molecule inhibitor of ERK1/2 kinases. KO-947 exhibits potent anti-proliferative activity across a broad panel of tumor cell lines with mutations in BRAF, NRAS or KRAS and demonstrates prolonged pathway inhibition, both in vitro and in vivo. Durable tumor regression has been observed with KO-947 in preclinical cell line and patient derived xenograft models, including KRAS- and BRAF-mutant adenocarcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas lacking BRAF/RAS mutations.
About Kura Oncology
Kura Oncology is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. The company’s pipeline consists of small molecule drug candidates that target cancer signaling pathways where there is a strong scientific and clinical rationale to improve outcomes by identifying those patients most likely to benefit from treatment. Kura Oncology’s lead drug candidate is tipifarnib, a farnesyl transferase inhibitor, which is currently being studied in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials. Kura’s pipeline also includes KO-947, an ERK inhibitor, currently in a Phase 1 trial, and KO-539, an inhibitor of the menin-MLL protein-protein interaction, currently in preclinical testing. For additional information about Kura Oncology, please visit the company’s website at www.kuraoncology.com.

Click here to read the full press release.